Title: Raiton Kage
Author: FairyTails13
Disclaimer: I own nothing…but the plot.
Rating: M
Summary: Kagome never met her father, but what if that was because he was from a different world, from the Naruto Universe. What if Kagome's father was the Konoha White Fang?
Warnings: Naruto x-over
Parings: Sesshomaru/Kagome, Itachi/??, Kakashi/Iruka, Gaara/ Naruto, Lee/Sakura, Shippo/Hinata, Sasuke/ ??, Asuma/Kurenai
Spoilers: Please note that I have the Manga to go by as I write so I don't get any of my information wrong (and caught myself when I lose ideas), so as I am writing I am only putting down what is important to the character I am narrating in that scene. I will most likely be mentioning things you would not understand if you have not read the Manga.
Key:
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
Beta: Jade Aislin…disappeared...they haven't responded to anything I have sent them….
A/n: The negative response to my poll on my profile is winning at the moment, so go vote if you want Itachi and Sasuke together. Thank you Cero for your impute, that is why I am not against the pairing in most situations.
Now that I have gotten that out, on for the real reason you are on this page.
Chapter: Chunin Exams: Part One
The first month had been mourning her disappearance with him locked up in his own room, refusing food and any amount of advice anyone sought to give him. The second month was spent on a near endless fighting spree, be it in the dojo with his brother or heir, or ended in the death any stupid youkai that dared defile his lands.
The years that came after that where a combination of those first two months without her and looking for a way to find her. They never came close, but it eased their minds that they were at least trying to see her again.
And then one day, ten years after the final battle that fate stole her from, a lord and his heir disappeared. His followers assumed that they finally cracked because of her disappearance, but their family knew otherwise.
Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Shippo had disappeared in a pinkish glow, not at all unlike the glow of the purified jewel.
!!!!
With his platoon's shift over, Itachi had two places he needed to be. One, where he needed to end up was at his and Kagome's crappy apartment. But before he walked into that domain, with high hopes that his adopted sister had gotten some sense of sleep, he had to find a store that sold chocolate.
Now, he and his brother were never been ones to go for sweets, something they both shared a dislike to. So he had little clue where to find a shop with good enough chocolate to satisfy the beast that is Kagome…especially after so many years of not being in his home village.
The woman is obsessed with the stuff, which is good because it helps calm her whenever she is pissed. So there is no way he is going to talk to her without any form of the substance to offer as a peace offering.
That would be suicide, even if he wasn't the cause of her earlier anger.
The Elite Konoha ANBU was forced to ask for help.
Itachi could have asked anyone in his platoon for help, but that would greatly injure his pride, he had very little of it at the moment, but it was still there. And that leaves three other people that know of his existence and have knowledge of the village.
There was no way he was going to bug the Hokage at the moment, he had already created enough trouble as it is, that and the Kazekage had arrived earlier that day, and the two village leaders would no doubt being at meetings, even this late at night.
And that left two other people, the Toad Sanin and the Copy Nin.
Having an old history with Kakashi, and not wanting to confront the man alone just yet, Itachi set out to find Jiraiya…and found him in a whore house 'researching'.
Yeah, like Itachi was going to go in to a whore house unless he was being paid to for a mission. He quickly crossed the man off his list of people to go to, for anything but life or death situation. And even then, the pervert would be near the bottom of the list…it is a short list.
He was left with one option, he suddenly wished he had just thrown his image and pride to the side and asked Lioness or Crain where the best Chocolate shop was.
It took him nearly an hour to find Kakashi without being seen, and that is with the use of his Sharingan. He could defiantly not go home empty handed now, else he wishes for death.
Kakashi wasn't alone as he walked down the nearly always deserted street, side by side with someone Itachi could only guess was man's lover…if their auras were anything to go by. The ANBU almost sighed and just gave up when the both of them stopped and the Copy Nin looked in his general direction.
"You need something Itachi?"
Well, at least he wasn't alone with the man.
The Uchiha stepped out of the shadows that he had been hiding in, coming into the light of the setting sun. His mask was off, clipped to his belt, and his black cloak hanging loosely around his shoulders. He noted the shocked realization in Kakashi's companion's face, and guessed that he knew the truth.
He fought back the urge bite his lip, a nervous gesture he picked up from Kagome. When he spoke it was low, "Yes, do you know where a good sweets shop is?"
The man with a scar across the bridge of his nose was in shock, he probably didn't expect that for someone with his reputation. But sadly, or regrettably all he could feel from Kakashi was amusement, "I thought you Uchiha didn't like anything attached to sugar."
Onyx eye narrow, "It isn't for me. I need chocolate as a peace offering."
Kakashi was smirking; Itachi just knew it, "Kagome?"
Itachi's eye brow twitched as he deadpanned, "Of course it is for Kagome."
Kakashi's chunin companion seemed to take pity on him and after sending a glare at the Copy Nin, which he backed off at, he smiled the mask-less ANBU, "There is one next to the flower shop on Seventh Street, Uchiha-san."
Itachi couldn't help the happy smile that crossed his face as he bowed in thanks, "Arigatou …"
The chunin bowed back, "Umino Iruka." And paused in looked between the two Jounin, "Do I want to know way he is being forced to take a peace offering?"
Kakashi smirked, answering for Itachi, "She didn't look all that happy when the Hokage called her forth earlier." His smirk turned to a smile, "I thought she was going to neuter Jiraiya when she found out about his 'research'."
All three males cringed at the thought and Itachi voiced: "I wouldn't doubt it…"
After a moment Iruka spoke up, looking at the ANBU with a thought, "How are you going to buy the Chocolate?"
Itachi cocked his head, "Black Ops get paid a little differently because of the nature of their missions Umino-san. I have enough."
The academy teacher shook his head, "No, I mean you can't exactly pop in the store like that." He pointed at the Uchiha's appearance to prove his point.
Itachi looked down at his self, "You are right." He ignored the snort that that from the ex-ANBU and made the hand signs for a very good henge he used many times against Naraku. No one would know it was him but those in front of him or Kagome, or possibly the Sanin and Hokage.
Kakashi and Iruka eyed his new appearance, wondering where he got the idea. Itachi, for his benefit, was smirking as he looked over himself as the human version of his fox demon nephew.
His hair was no longer the darkest of black and now a nice auburn red pulled up into a pony tail instead of the base of his neck.
Onyx eyes are now a mix between blue and green. His skin a nice sun kissed color instead of his deadly pale look, and his clothes…Shippo's fight clothes. All he was missing was Shippo's pointed ears, bushy tail and pawed feet. Yes, he decided he wanted fangs and claws, those weren't uncommon with shinobi.
To keep his to his new look he grinned, showing his fangs, at the other two shinobi before him as they looked at his new look curiously, "If you see me like this, my name is Shippo."
Kakashi cocks his head, "And who is Shippo for future reference?"
Itachi grinned wildly in his new appearance and answered before jumping away, "From what I have seen…an older, war-trained version of your yellow haired student from our world."
Iruka and Kakashi shared a look and it was the chunin that voiced this thought, "I have a feeling, that we are going to see a lot of this 'Shippo'."
The Copy Nin lazily nodded his head, "Yup."
!!!!
With a box full of many different verities of chocolate, Itachi slid through the window that entered his and Kagome's living room, lifting the traps as he tried to get the memory of flirting woman from his mind. It never occurred to him just how attractive his nephew was; even thinking about that made him cringe.
"Nice disguise, Tachi."
The voice startled the ANBU even if he knew that she would be there. He turned around with one legs still out of the window to see her sitting in the kitchen chair, a certain orange book in her hand. He resisted the urge to burn said book, "How can you read that?"
She did not even look up from the book, turning the page as her gray eyes reached the bottom of the page, "Once you look pass all the grunginess and crudeness, the story is really good."
He just gave her a look as his henge finally dissipated and he stood there in his ANBU uniform, hiding his peace offering- I mean, gift behind his back. He could easily see how tense she really was, as her eyes went over the page; she was trying to distract herself. He bit his lip as he moved forward and sat across from her with the box of chocolates in his lap to keep them hidden.
They sat there, her reading and him watching her reading for a good ten minutes before Itachi finally spoke up, his voice low and cautious, "Did you take a good nap?"
She looked up, shocked at his sudden question before she smiled. She placed a bookmark in the raunchy novel before closing it and placing it on the table, "A full six hours" she sighed happily and leaned back in her chair, "It was bliss."
Itachi smiled and leaned forward with his chin on the hand not holding the box in his lap, but then his mood dropped again, "Why were you up all night Gome?"
She didn't meet his eyes, "I thought…no, I knew something was wrong. I couldn't sleep," she snorted, "I went to the monument to see the starts and the Hokage found me and I balled my eyes out, soaking his robes."
Kagome's head fell into her folded arms, blocking her face from him. He didn't talk, not knowing what to say. She may have given him back his emotions, but that didn't mean he knew how to express those emotions all of the time. He could pat her on the back to get rid of the embarrassment she was feeling, but he knew that was not what she wanted.
They were missing their family. Sango would know exactly what to say, and would have Kagome smiling again in minutes. But Itachi was not Sango, and had no clue what to say…so he placed the box in front of Kagome's bowed head, making sure to shake it a bit to grab her attention.
He almost called her name when she didn't do anything but he didn't when she peeked her head up above her arms and dark gray eyes looked up at him, then they spied the box in front of her. Itachi knew he did well when she was suddenly sitting strait in her wooden chair and her hands hovering over the box.
A smile shined like sunshine on her face, "Chocolate?"
Itachi couldn't help but scratch the back of his head, something he would never do in front of anyone else, "Well, I'm not very good with words…so I thought."
He was cut off when she reached over their fairly small table, and threw her arms around his neck. His arms soon found her slim shoulders when she spoke, "Thank you, just knowing that you are here, alive and well make me happy."
The Uchiha smiled, it wasn't nearly as bright as her, but it was there. He enjoyed the moment, but he wanted to hear her laugh. Call him selfish, but he wanted to her the bell like giggle that make even the cold hearted Sesshomaru smile. He rested his chin on her shoulder and spoke into her ear, "And the chocolates? You like those?"
He was reworded with the giggle he wanted fallowed by a reply said in between gasps of air, "Yes…yes, I l-like those, Itachi. You did well."
He let out a sigh he didn't know he had been holding in, "Good."
She finally pulled away, and he mourned the loss of her embrace for a moment before she spoke as her hands ripped the plastic from the box of sweets with the aid of a kunai, "And the best part…" she grinned at him as she leaned back in her chair, "You won't try to beg any from me like Rin or Shippo."
He sighed dramatically and pretended to be hurt, "I brave the laughter of Kakashi to find a sweets store, and I don't even get a thank you."
Kagome balled up the plastic wrapper and tossed it at his head. He let it hit him instead of catching it to let her have the gratification of hitting him so childishly. She stuck her tongue out at him, "You are so brave."
He rubbed his head to look injured and pouted to fight against her sarcasm, "Hey! Your brother is scawy."
At this proclamation Kagome couldn't hold her laughter in any more, falling out of her chair as peals of giggles tore away from her throat. Itachi sat in his chair, hands folded on the table in front of him, feeling very proud of himself for getting such a reaction out of the woman.
!!!!
Sleep did not come easy for Sakura that night. Anticipation and fear of the upcoming exam kept her tossing and turning under blankets that ended up getting kicked off because they almost strangled her. Never did she think that Kakashi would nominate his team for such a life changing even so soon after they became genin.
She was not ready for the chunin exams; any mission she had been on for the last few months would be a testament to that. Sasuke and even 'dead last' Naruto always had to save her from being hurt. The two of them worked so well together when it was needed, and she was always on the sidelines able to do little more than a civilian could.
And through all of her failures, a woman who didn't even know her believed in her. She would never forget the smile on Kagome's face as she reassured her of her skills, something her own sensei didn't do.
The pink haired kunoichi wasn't blind to how Kakashi favored the last Uchiha, only helping her and Naruto when it involved Sasuke. She didn't blame him for doing this, but she was so eager to learn from him and yet she wasn't being taught.
Sometime around eleven Sakura wondered if the younger Hatake sibling could help her where her older brother would not. She knew, from just seeing her interact with the Sand Nin, that Hatake Kagome was in no way as weak as her rank suggested. She could see the other Kunoichi passing the exam, even without at team, like she was taking a walk in the park.
Thoughts of being trained or even helped by such a woman finally allowed Sakura calm down enough to go to sleep. Sometime during the night she realized that she wanted to become strong, not just to please Sasuke, because he had never shown any attraction to her, but for herself.
When she woke up the next morning to an alarm clock that was lucky to live she found, even if she feared the upcoming chunin exam, she had a determination to prove herself. As she walked to meet her team she walked slowly, but with a sureness she didn't feel.
She was the first to arrive, but this did not surprise her, the Uchiha district was quite a few miles away and Naruto was always last. As she had walked, she had given herself a pep talk, but by the time she saw Sasuke arriving a block away, she had lost all of the self esteem she had worked herself up with.
When her eyes met with her teammate's she couldn't even muster up the energy needed to be the proper fan girl, only muttering a soft 'Morning' when he nodded to acknowledge her presence.
She missed the look onyx eyes sent her when they noticed how she was acting as she absentmindedly took in her surroundings, watching as visitors, both shinobi and civilian, walked around in the wee hours of the morning. The Shinobi were few as they probably didn't have time for site seeing, but watching the civilians was a show in its self.
It was funny to see the awe on their faces as they looked at something she grew up with and saw every day. She smiled a little as a father explained what the Hokage Monument stood for to his three young children. Two girls and one boy listened intently to their father spin his story, wide eyes glued to the four faces carved into the side of the mountain.
The Konoha Hokage were infamous and it appeared that the father took great joy in revealing the stories behind each face.
"He is exaggerating."
Sakura nearly jumped out of her clothing when Sasuke suddenly spoke up next to her, she had forgotten that he was there. Amazingly she looked at him standing next to her calmly to see his eyes watching the same thing that she was. She allowed herself a small smile, remembering her civilian parents.
"Yeah," she started, watching as one of the little girls with innocent brown eyes gasped in shock, "But what we deem normal and an everyday occurrence must seem amazing and impossible to them."
They didn't talk anymore and grew silent, each one's mind somewhere else as they waited for their last team member. Sasuke's traveled to the old days of watching his older brother train, doing things that his younger self could only dream of doing. He remembers being amazed by his brother, just like the three kids before him and smiles mentally. He couldn't help it, not noticing that for once, his mind didn't travel to that night when he thought of Itachi.
Sakura was remembering her first day at the academy. Coming from a household of civilians she hadn't grown up around the shinobi lifestyle, only getting a glimpse of that when a family member she barely remembers would come over to visit. She only remembers his stories of the missions he and his team had been on.
She had left the academy that day with her mind boggled with all the information she was to be introduced to during the next few years of her life. She remembers her mother sitting with her as they fixed rice balls as she told about her day at school. She remembers the smile on her mother's aged face, that the other emotion in her eyes that she only now understands was fear.
Sakura had lost sight, she now realizes; she had tossed her goal of beating the statistics for the success rate for a student at the academy without any shinobi family to the side when she had become a fan girl. She had been stupid; she had been…a typical preteen girl.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, smiling to herself to know that he was her teammate. But somewhere inside her she knew that he would never see her how she wanted him too. She was just his teammate, and she could take that. Maybe she would go further in her career if she stopped fantasizing about him.
That didn't mean she would stop rubbing it in Ino Pig's face that she was on the same team as Sasuke, but she would focus on her skills from now on, not fantasizing about a future of him loving her. She had no future if she didn't become stronger; such is the life of a Shinobi.
Sakura nodded to herself, her mind set.
It was perfect timing that that is when Naruto finally showed up, waving and shouting his greeting to her. She found herself only muttering her greeting again as her nervousness for the exam coming back full force with the arrival of their last team member. She didn't notice that Sasuke stayed back a few feet as they started on their way to the exam building, nor the worried looked he was giving her.
!!!!
Sakura was feeling a little better by the time they got to the floor everyone seemed to be collecting on, Naruto with his bright and shining attitude brightening her own. She was with her team now, she wasn't alone.
She didn't notice that they were in the mist of the crowd until she heard someone fall to the ground hard, followed by two distinct voices.
"You plan on taking on the chunin exam with that?!" She heard the laughter in his gruff voice and she started to draw in on herself.
"You should just quiet now," Her jaw trembled and she thought of escaping many times, but she stayed close to her team as they moved through the crowd to the front determined not to abandon them when they had protected her so many times. As they reached the front of the crowd Sakura saw two genin next to the door, and when one of them talked and she knew he was the one that just spoke, "You're just a little kid."
Sakura blinked to herself, looking to the ground to see who he was talking to, only to see the boy she had run into the morning she had been late. She remembered his name, Rock Lee, and noticed the determination in his eyes as he glared up at the other shinobi who had just ridiculed him. He was a much different person than the one she had seen that morning.
Sakura bit her lip as she watched the female of the team, TenTen, walk forward, asking to be let in the door, and flinched as she was brutally knocked down with her team mate on the ground. Dark mutters were heard in the crowd at this action and Sakura agreed.
Sakura listened with the rest of the group as the Genin blocking then ordered it. His partner started to speak, and he pretty much had all of their attention as he spoke to Lee and TenTen, "The Chunin exam isn't easy, we have failed three times."
The other one spoke up, "Those that take this exam and end up quitting as Shinobi, those that die during the exam; we have seen it all."
The first speaker continued, his voice hard, "And Chunin become captains of military teams," he paused, only for a moment, "The failure of a mission, the death of a comrade, that is all the responsibility of the captain."
His partner glanced over the crowd as they took in his words, "And yet you kids think you can pass?"
They shared a laugh, "We are just thinning out those that will fail anyway. What is wrong with that?"
Sakura made her legs stay still, but was shocked out of her fear when Sasuke spoke up, "I agree, but…."
He had everyone's attention and Sakura gulped down her fear, ready to stand behind him. She noticed that Naruto was standing on his other side and smiled a little as the Uchiha continued, "You will let me pass through, " he smirked and Sakura wondered why, "Also, remove these surroundings created by genjutsu."
There were mutters in the background as his words settled in and Sakura started to look around when it dawned on her that they had only gone up two flights of stairs. When Sasuke spoke again she was happy to understand way he was so confidante, "I'm going to the third floor."
She looked at those blocking the door as they shared a look, "So, you noticed…"
Sasuke smirked and looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, "Sakura, you must have noticed first, right?"
She was so shocked by her sudden involvement that she didn't know how to reply with anything but a stupid sounding, "Huh?"
He smiled at her, "Your analytical and genjutsu know-how is that most improved on our team."
A little bit of her fan girl self shined and she mentally thanked him before taking lead with a wide smile, "Of course, I noticed a while ago." She prided in the fact that she had, "Because this is the second floor."
Next to her Naruto grinned at his team, he had noticed it too, but was just fallowing them when they were attracted to the crowd of people, "Yup."
As the sign on the door shifted from 201 to 301 the Genin at the door smirked, "Hmm, not bad…"
Sakura's eyes widened as when he started to talk again, he started moving, "But all you did was see through it!!!"
Near the end of his statement it was a shout and his leg was suddenly flying towards Sasuke's face. She jumped back a little as the black haired shinobi moved to block the other male's leg with his own. It was a blur when both colliding legs were stopped and Sakura gasped in shock as Lee stood in between the two would be fighters, both of their legs in one of his hands.
'He's fast…' Sakura stared at the boy who had flirted with her in utter amazement and shock, 'He was able to see both kicks and slide in between? He is a completely different person…'
She was impressed, and continued to watch him in the same shock Sasuke shared as he stared at the chakra surrounding the arm that stopped his leg, amazed and curious. When the two legs were dropped Lee moved back to his team, a grin on his face.
Sakura noticed the look Neji was giving his other male teammate and listened as he growled at Lee, "Hey, what happened to the plan? You are the one that said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."
"Well…" Lee looked form his team to her and their eyes connected and she barely noticed as TenTen shake her head in disapproval as he walked over to her.
"Hello again," He winked at her and gave her a thumbs up, "Let's go out together!"
And the person who irked her from that morning was back and her eye brow twitched, "No…way."
The instant rejection burned him, but something told her he was not going to give up.
!!!!
As the crowd moved on along with her brother's team Kagome leaned against the hiding spot the two 'genin' were using, feeling proud of her brother's team just a little bit more. She was happy that Sakura came, even if her aura screamed fear and worry. And the way Sasuke boosted his teammate's confidence…she was very proud. It took his brother nearly a year before he started to care about anyone but her.
Shaken from her moment, the under ranked Shinobi's attention was caught by the two hiding shinobi as they spoke, "So that was Kakashi and Gai's prized pupils…they passed the unofficial first test…"
"Yeah, this exam is going to be fun." They both sounded really excited and Kagome's mood couldn't help but be boosted just a little bit.
The sound of a henge breaking made Kagome look at the class room behind her, where the 'genin' were as smoke revealed their real appearance and smirked at the fact that they were really Chunin. Their speech made more sense now, that she knew that they had experience with the topic. She was getting ready to leave, knowing that there was less than thirty minutes now, until the exam and she needed to see the competition, but she heard her name.
"I can't wait to see Kakashi's littler sister fight too," a pause, "see if Hatake Kagome can stand up to the family name."
She smirked to herself and looked through the doorway they were inside as she spoke, "I hope I can meet your standard, boys."
The look of shock on their faces was priceless when they realized she had been there long enough to hear their entire conversation. When the silence seemed to take too long to be broken the kunoichi remembered something she had seen her brother do when he greeted someone and decided to imitate him a little. Holding up a peace sign, she let a goofy grin grace her face, "Yo."
Their eye were wide for a moment before they calmed and smiled at her. The one with a bandage across his face bowed to her and gave a small smile in greeting, "Now I really can't wait to see you fight, Hatake-san."
His partner laughed and copied the bow and smile, "Yup! That was defiantly Kakashi level sneakiness."
She bowed back politely and couldn't help but grin, "Thanks, and to be honest guys, I can't wait to fight. Steeling Kakashi's book just won't cut it."
They seemed even more shocked then when she had snuck up on them, "You…were able to get Hatake Kakashi's little orange book from him…?"
Kagome reached into her scroll patch and pulled out the orange book her brother treasured so much, "You mean this one? This is the second time actually."
Both of the Chunin gapped at her with their jaws hanging at her statement and she tucked the book she had already read three times back where she had had it. Deciding that she should get going she turned and waved, "Well, bye boys, I need to go check out the competition."
She left them in a stunned silence.
!!!!
As she walked she came to a large room like area, she only paused because of the energy she felt in the room. Team Seven's, that one kid-Lee's, and two others she did not recognize, one of which she could tell was a turtle's. Kagome frowned and hummed to herself as she continued on.
She was just in time to watch as Team seven entered the exam room, leaving her brother watching them in the hallway with pride in his aura. She smiled and took the book back out of her pouch, holding it out to him as she stepped up to him. When he turned to see her his eyes immediately went to his book.
"Are you going to let me keep it this time?"
She grinned at him, "Yup, I can't exactly enjoy it right now can I?"
He snatched it from her and hid it somewhere in his clothes, "We still haven't discussed it, Jou-chan."
She shook her head at him for his use of her nickname and looked away at the door that led to the room she should be entering, "Yeah, but we really haven't had time have we?"
He also looks to the door, "Yeah." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "Have fun, and don't hurt the kiddies."
She laughed, shaking her hand at him with the other on her hip, "I can't make any promises, Onii-san. Those kids are trained killers, hunters and all around dangerous."
He made to push her into the room but she moved forward to dodge, placing an hand on the door. He amended by smirking at her and waving her off, "And so are you."
She stuck her tongue out at him and finally opened the door ignoring his mock hurt look as she took in the seer amount of genin in the room. As the doors shut behind her she tried to locate her charge, highly uncomfortable with the amount of shinobi around her. She got the feeling of being watched but choked that up to the fact that she wasn't anywhere their age and she had just came in the door.
Trying to get out of the limelight Kagome rushed to where she could see Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke surrounded by six other kids and a dog. It seemed to be some sort of reunion so she didn't interrupt until Naruto spotted her.
"Kagome-chan!"
She almost screeched as he tackle hugged her, simply because being watched already had her tense. She held it back and only 'meeped' as she was thrown a few feet back and was luckily able to stay standing as she skidded backwards. Her arms grasped Naruto for the sake of her balance, and only when she sustained this did she speak, "Naruto!"
This was in chorus with Sakura as she stomped over to her teammate to smack him on the back of the head, "Naruto! Stop acting like a little kid!"
He grinned sheepishly at Kagome as she tried to stop her heart from pounding out of her chest, "Sorry Kagome-chan."
She tried to smile, "It okay, just, please give me some kind of a warning next time."
His smile drowned her nervousness in seconds as he grabbed her hand to pull her over to the group of Genin who were looking at her oddly. She looked over them as she was pulled towards the group of genin that were looking at her with emotions that she really didn't feel like sorting out other than interest and curiosity. She gave them the same greeting she gave the two chunin in the hall a few minutes ago, "Yo."
Naruto took it upon his self to introduce her to the group, and with his volume, the entire room, "Guys, this is Hatake Kagome! She is taking the Exam!"
There was silence from everyone who heard her name and she could swear she saw a tumbleweed toss in an imaginary wind in the back ground. The kid with red fang markings on his cheeks and a white puppy on his head sneered at her, "Aren't you a bit old to take the chunin exam?"
Living with Sesshomaru had long installed a canine mind set in her head; she could even understand a dog's barks for actual words. Years of being Sesshomaru's Alpha Female came to mind and she growled at the canine like shinobi without thinking, "Shut it pup."
She could also speak Inu, simple phrases, nothing complicated because she wasn't given enough time to perfect it, but she was pleased to see that the loudmouth canine kid understood her. He shut up quickly and stared at her in wonder as she answered with something everyone else would understand, "Actually, I've only been a Shinobi for a few years longer than you, I grew up in a Shrine and was introduced to my heritage at age seventeen."
A very shy girl spoke up, her lilac colored eyes not connecting with Kagome's gray pair, "You are the kunoichi Kurenai-sensei told us about? You are entering on special circumstances?"
Kagome smiled at the shy girl, "That would be me. And you are?"
Before the dark haired female could talk Naruto jumped forward and volunteered himself to introductions, pointing to each person as he said their names, "Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru he is always lazy," Kagome smiled at the little frown that got from the dark haired male, "Yamanaka Ino , Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino."
She nodded to each one politely as she committed each name and face to memory and was glad when a new voice interrupted her in the awkward moment, "Hey you guys, you could be quieter!"
Kagome looked over the young genin's heads as they all turned around to see an older looking males looking at them all disapprovingly, "You guys are rookies just out of the academy, right?" he rolled his eyes, "Screaming like school girls, geez…"
Kagome's eye twitched at being grouped with 'screaming school girls' and held back a retort as it rose in her throat. The blonde girl, Ino, beat her to it, "Who do you think you are?"
'How original…' Kagome rolled her eyes, wishing for the entire world that she did not have to go through this exam and deal with drama she left behind in High School and in no way misses.
The light haired male pushed his glasses up with one hand and moved the other hand to his hip and took the pose of an authority figure, as he spoke, "Kabuto, but instead of that, look behind you."
Kagome didn't bother with that as all of Naruto's friends did, she already knew they were being glared at with all the annoyed auras behind her. No her eyes found Kabuto, something about him was giving her a tingly sensation as if he was not as he seemed. His eyes met hers and her eyes narrowed when he looked away immediately.
She didn't like him already and committed the feel of his aura to memory else she need to know it at a later date.
When the rookies turned back around, he spoke to them as if she wasn't there, "Those behind you are from the hidden rain, they have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, quiet down before you cause a scene."
Kagome blocked him out at that moment since he was doing the same to her, looking around the room with little interest. She spotted the three Shinobi from Suna and raised an eye brow as the other demon vessel stared at her with restless eyes. Even from where she stood she could feel his demon wishing her death and mentally frowned at that thought of a mindless demon being in control of a twelve year old human.
She didn't even want to know what he was going through mentally. She had met some pretty demented demons in her live and knew she would be crazy if just one of them had been sealed in her body. She needed to find out a way to upgrade Gaara's seal to the level of Naruto's before something bad happened, maybe while they were in the forest….
The staring contest between her and Gaara ended as Kagome nearly jumped out at a very familiar voice shouting, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I won't lose to you bastards!!!"
Kagome held a hand over her racing heart and stared at her charge with wide eyes, 'He just isn't going to be making my mission easier! Does he want to be attacked!?'
Everyone was staring at him when she followed up with, "You got that?!"
She almost couldn't feel her brother's amusement above all the annoyed and angry auras in the room with her. It was giving her a headache and she blotted out Sakura scolding her team mate and only winced when the pink haired girl tried to calm the suddenly pissed crowd.
The miko forgot about her pain though, when three murderous auras rise above the rest. Her eyes jerked to where she felt it coming towards Naruto's part of the room. Her mind worked quickly and a hand was gripping a kunai in seconds and she was ready to attack, until she noticed that they weren't going to attack Naruto, but Kabuto. She didn't bother to help him, and instead favored the idea of not showing her skill level.
She only looked away when he spewed the contents of his stomach. It wasn't her business, but she mentally stored the information of how the sound nin had used air pressure to attack without hitting the Glasses wearing Shinobi. She also logged the need to check out Hidden Sound a little; it wasn't a village her father wrote to her about, so it must be a newer one.
For her part, in ignoring all the drama and big talk she was the only one to notice entrance of the examiners before they announced it.
"Quiet down you worthless Bastards!"
Kagome's eye twitched as her headache flared in pain again, 'Does everyone feel the need to yell?!'
As the cloud of smoke that the newcomers had appeared with dissipated Kagome took in the sight of countless chunin, plus the two from the hall, with a Jounin at the front, one she recognized to be the interrogator she had met days ago. She rolled her eyes has his killing intent washed over the room making many a genin gulp in fear. She smirked at him as his eyes connected with hers for a moment before he continued taking control of the room and introducing himself.
She easily blocked out him scolding the Sound Nin and only looked back at him when he started giving out instructions. Then Naruto did something he seemed to do a lot, yell, "Nani!? A paper test!?"
She whimpered and held her head and got in line to get her randomly numbered tile to find her seat. She ignored the questioning look she got from the examiner that was passing them out as she glanced down at her number, 'Four, of course I am in the front.'
She found her seat quickly, not having to go far. Ibiki caught her eye when she sat down and she glared as he smirked at her placement. She gave him a taste of her own killing intent and smirked back at him when his eyes widened. She had to learn how to put fear into mindless low class demons, scaring an aged man was nothing compared to that.
Her smirk fell from her face as she felt who was sitting next to her. She looked over to see Kankuro no Suna taking his seat and placing his number three tile down next Kagome's with a 'click' that made her flinch. He smirked at her, but he didn't need to say anything to her as he got what he wanted with the look on her face.
'Great,' Kagome turned towards the chalk board in the front with a ice melting glare, 'In the front and next to a vengeful smart ass. Someone really hates me…'
!!!!
Itachi stood in a high branch, looking down at the spot he and Kagome had landed in this world in, a small smile on his face. His Platoon had been assigned to watch over the second part of the exam and Itachi suspected that that was done so he would feel better about his brother's safety as he took the test.
He also couldn't wait to see Kagome kick some ass, if she got the chance that is. He knew she would try to get the exam over as quickly as she could so that she could watch over his brother and Naruto. He knew better then everyone that putting Kagome through this exam was a joke of her skills, which is why he is certain that she had most likely gotten a mission to accomplish during this part of the test.
Maybe he wasn't the only one that got a bad feeling about something that would happen during the exam.
!!!!
Kagome decided that if Kankuro wanted to cheat using her answers he would have to work hard for it, and she felt lucky that she was in an aisle seat so there was no one next to her on her other side.
As soon as the word 'begin' came out of Ibiki's mouth her paper was turned over and as soon as she read the first question she realized that this test was not meant to be answered by everyone but an experience shinobi and this did not include the genin around her. Each question was about a situation that unless you had seen it personally or had very good book smarts, you could not answer it.
With a new revelation the shinobi miko looked up at Ibiki as his eyes were scanning test takers far behind her. The rules of test passed through her mind and she ignored numbers two and four because she did not have a team to combine scores with and her non-existent team members could not fail her by getting zero points.
The war veteran had no real urge to cheat because she had the experience and books smarts needed to pass, or at least writing a simple answer and if she got any wrong it was because she was used to these situations with demons, not fellow humans.
It irked her though, because she realized that they were encouraging the test takers to cheat by making the test this hard. Kagome secretly smiled to herself as she felt the same realization in Sasuke's aura, 'Just like his brother…good job Sasuke.'
Kagome was a little unnerved by the fact that she was getting ready to be in the same room with an insane amount of cheaters. Sighing she looked down at her paper and lazily answered the first question, placing her head on her left hand, blocking Kankuro's view of her paper.
She knew this gave other people a look at her paper but a quick ward with her miko energy lacing it quickly solved that problem. It was a ward against cheating and she felt shock coming from a test taker from Hidden Rain a few seats to her right and behind her, at the same moment a chunin in front of her marked on his clipboard.
In fifteen minutes she had questions number one through nine finished, and this left her with nearly thirty minutes until the last question would be given. In boredom she flipped her paper over and started to doodle on it. It was little stick people with hair to identify them as herself and a certain brothers of hers. She could fell humor in Ibiki's aura and resisted the urge to flash him the finger because his eyes were most likely not the only eyes on her.
!!!!
As Kagome waited for the tenth question her mind wandered, wandered to the jewel attached to her soul and hidden just under her skin. For something that had dictated her life for so many years, she sure had forgotten about it.
Even if it was purified against her presence, she could always feel the demonic auras of the three youkai souls that were a part of it. While her own presence kept them dormant she never blinded herself to the fact that they would have say about any wish she made.
That wish was something they had thought about a lot over the last year, trying to think of something pure and unselfish. It was so hard too, because anything they wished for would benefit them, and make it selfish in some way.
Through depressing thoughts Ibiki's voice rang out and Kagome looked at him after glancing around the room. She hadn't even noticed how empty it had become; the dullness of a written test sure did dull her senses. She didn't even notice that Kankuro had gotten up until he suddenly sat down next to her again.
She gave her full attention to the special Jounin before her as he spoke. "I'll explain now. These are the rules of desperation…"
Kagome could feel the tension in the room jump several notches and she rubbed her head as it affected the headache she could have sworn was gone. She also noticed just how much Naruto seemed to freak out. She glared slightly at Ibiki as he let the silence draw out, 'Seriously? I bet half of them are ready to pee themselves, get it over with.'
As if hearing her, the Jounin chose that moment to continue, "First, for this tenth question…" he glanced around the room, "You need to choose if you will take it."
Kagome flinched along with Kankuro next to her as yet another person shouted within the last hour, this time it was Tamari, "Choose!?" Her voice was just as angry as her aura, "What happens if we choose not to!?"
Kagome could feel her aura calm though, when Ibiki gave her his full attention, "If you choose not to answer question ten, your points will be reduced to zero…" there was a collective mummer of people whispering about this fact, "You fail, along with your two team mates."
Several people shouted out that then why the hell wouldn't answer the last question if that was so, but it was quickly cut off by Ibiki talking again, "And now, the other rule."
If looks could kill…
"If you choose to answer it, and answer it incorrectly…." He paused for a dramatic effect that made Kagome's eye twitch, "That person will forfeit the right to ever take the Chunin Selection Exam again!"
There was a collective gasp and silence reined for a moment before Kagome rested her head on the table to block out the shouts. She was really happy when Ibiki spoke again and shut them up. When he asked who didn't want to take the test Kagome didn't bother to watch the people get up and leave. She only looked up when Naruto spoke and she felt the confidence of everyone in the room take a drastic boost.
She smiled to herself, proud of him. Ibiki gave them one more chance, but it wasn't needed, everyone was going to answer.
"Good decision," he was smirking and Kagome glared at him, "Now to everyone remaining…I congratulate you on passing the first test!!!"
Kankuro next to her slid down in his chair and she knew he was feeling the same thing she was, relief and a border edge urge to murder the Jounin. His speech that came afterwards lessened this intent as she completely agreed with what he was sayings, and she understood why they were made to have to cheat, because if a shinobi got caught on a information gathering mission, the end result could be deadly.
She had learned from a personal experience about being tortured when she was caught while gathering information on Naraku, and while her scars may not be as bad as the ones under Ibiki's bandana, the experience was in no way something she wanted to repeat.
And the tenth question, it taught them that hard choices had to be made, a shinobi's life was dangerous and not very good for one's health, and one had to take the chance at being put in a dangerous situation because sometimes it is needed to stay one step above the enemy. Shinobi have to take risks; this is not a new subject to Kagome.
She had led countless groups of demons on missions during the war against Naraku, be it killing his supporters or getting information to use against him. She is proud of the fact that she had never lost anyone who was under her lead, but that did not mean it could not have happened. She had taken risks before that could and did put her teams in danger.
It was like that saying, "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the damn kitchen."
As everyone seemed to be celebrating the fact that they passed the first part of the test, Kagome was the only one besides Ibiki that noticed the new arrival. The entrance was flashy, and many people's auras jumped in shock.
She was in front so her hair was whipped around by the small winds that were created and the Miko decided that she needed ear plugs when the woman stopped and announced, "You guys, this is no time to be celebration!"
Kagome took in the woman's appearance in the few second before she spoke again; noticing the fact that she only wore a mesh shirt under her trench coat that flew open with her flashy landing. The twenty-six year old mourned her age in her head, noticing that the woman could not be older than herself, 'Now I feel really old…'
"I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! Now lest go!" she shoved her arm above her head, "Follow me!"
Having been hidden behind the large black banner that Anko had put up with two kunai, Ibiki looked around it at the other examiner when a stunned silence came over the room and no one made a move to go anywhere, "Bad timing…"
Kagome agreed and was suddenly reminded of Naruto with the way the woman had acted…and shouted. She mock cleaned out her ear to make sure she could still hear. Next to her Kankuro chuckled, almost silently, at the action.
After a moment of Anko's eyes looking over the room she jerked her head to stare at Ibiki, "78? Ibiki you left 26 teams!?" She humped and growled at him, "The test was too easy this time!"
He only smirked smugly at her, "This time…there were a lot of outstanding ones."
"Bah, that's fine…" She shifted her stance to a more confidant one and Kagome shivered at the sadistic feeling her aura suddenly gain, "I'll cut them down by half in the second test."
Despite her voice's volume, Kagome was slowly deciding that she like the other kunoichi and smirked as she felt several other people shiver from what she knew was them subconsciously feeling her aura. The woman reminded her of herself on the battle field and she started to bounce her leg in anticipation.
The purple haired Anko smirked at the room of Genin before her as her eyes raked over them to spread her killing intent around, and Kagome noticed that they paused over her for a split second before she continued, "I'll explain everything once we have changed places, follow me!"
Kagome didn't get up until there were less than ten other genin still in the room, noting that Naruto had already dragged his team out of the room in excitement. When she stood Ibiki was in front of her, smiling, "Good luck."
She smiled back and nodded her gratitude, "That was fun."
He raised a brow at her, and she knew the chunin that were gathering at the front of the room were also giving her a look. She guesses that not many people would think anything involving the interrogator in front of her would count as 'fun'; they hadn't met Sesshomaru. Soon, Kagome was the last genin in the room, but Ibiki kept her by replying "Really?"
The miko turned slightly to the door, knowing she was already behind as she could feel everyone on the bottom floor, "You know my story, Ibiki-sempai…"
"True," he smirked at her, "She will leave you behind you know…"
Kagome rolled her eyes, "Forest of Death, right?' at a not-so-shocked nod she smirked happily, "Finally!"
She disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving chunin wondering how she already knew that jutsu when they didn't learn it until after they had ranked chunin. Ibiki had never really seen anyone that happy to go to the forest of death and shook his head with a chuckle at how happy she seemed to be going to a place that promised danger.
"Was that really Hatake Kakashi's half sister, Ibiki- sempai?'
Ibiki looked over at a female chunin whose name escaped him at the moment, "Yes, this exam will be most interesting with her in it no doubt."
TBC
A/n: I know nothing of Sakura's Parents, so they will both be civilians, and a grandfather or some family member like that (now dead) was a shinobi and the one to push her to her lifestyle.
On a side note…I researched the names of the two chunin who halted everyone on the second floor…I just didn't bother to introduce their names. They are Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo. I am also writing this here for future reference on my part.
Oh, and please don't diss on my grammar unless you are offering to be my beta. You have no clue how much it makes me mad to be told that I have horrible grammar at least five times a chapter. The more insulted I am the less likely it is that I will update quicker, and the next one will not be coming any time soon because I have to figure out how to not make Itachi and Sasuke meeting not seem corny.
Read and Review,
~FT