Chapter 25: Black Kitsune
The ANBU were gathered with the Hokage. Why they were gathered was not mentioned so they sat and waited until the last of them appeared, which happened to be a head of short grayish silver hair. The Hokage stood and all talk was silenced.
"Now that we are all here, we can start." She nodded and a door opened. She knew the elders from several clans and Danzo were present. "Come in," she called and a woman entered, the Higurashi seal visible on her back but she was facing the Hokage so no one could see her face. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail then braided. There were a few that knew who this was. "We are here to test this kunoichi to see if she has what it takes to become an ANBU." There were murmurs and Itachi stared at her long and hard, as did Sesshomaru, Kakashi, and Inu no Taisho.
"It will be a series of three tests, placed before you. You will be given a score for every test and at the end, the scores will be tallied and you will be told if you pass or not." Tsunade looked around the room, looking at the ANBU present. Yes, there were less ANBU than any other rank of ninja, but they were by far, more skilled than other ninja. The first test is to find the jounin present amongst us." She nodded and closed her eyes. She took in all the chakra levels. Yes, Kakashi was an ANBU at one point in time then became a jounin, but she knew he was not the one she was talking about. She knew the Hokage had something planned with Kakashi.
"Aside from Hatake Kakashi, who was an ANBU at one point in time, the jounin is over there," she pointed off to the side. "I believe it is one Shikamaru Nara." The Hokage nodded and the boy left.
"Good. The next test is this obstacle course." The floor rumbled and a maze appeared. "You must navigate to the end. You will be timed, and there are obstacles through out the test." Kagome nodded and dropped down into the maze. She had her fingertips on the left side of the maze and took off at a sprint, going unseen. When something did happen, and she came across an obstacle, she could be seen dodging and bending and moving gracefully, her flexibility becoming apparent as she progressed. It was a good five minutes later that she exited, not a single injury seen.
"Not bad. Now you will fight three ANBU, ranging in rank." She watched the female nod. An ANBU with a bird mask appeared as the maze dropped back into the ground. She could tell it was a man. "Use any means to defeat your opponent. There will be no killing." Kagome nodded and pulled her great halberd from against the wall. A grin had lit up Bankotsu's face. There were more murmurs, most doubting if she could use such a weapon. She scowled but waited for the signal to go.
"And begin!" Kagome vanished from sight, surprising a lot of the ANBU. They did not think it possible for someone to move that quickly, and soon the bird masked figure was pressed to the ground, kunai pinning down his pant and shirt sleeves, she was straddling his waist and her halberd was pressed into his throat.
"Victory, Higurashi." She watched the woman stand and place the halberd across her back and freed the ANBU. He was one of the lowest ranking ANBU, so she figured Kagome was much stronger than him, just from her speed and the amount of time it took for her to defeat her opponent. He left, grumbling, a thin line of blood on his throat. The next ANBU to appear was a woman wearing a cat mask. She wore a skin tight black body suit complete with pink armor.
She pulled out two kunai. She would charge them with fire and lightning when the signal was given. She knew this woman was more skilled than the man she fought a minute ago, so she would have to be prepared.
"And begin!" She quickly charged the two kunai with the elements as the woman pulled the boomerang shaped weapon from her back. The woman threw it and she dodged it and when it came back she dodged it again before moving quickly. The woman threw it again and she knocked it off course with a ball of fire. It slammed into the wall and the woman drew a katana. It was shorter than an actual katana. She knew it was for close quarters combat. She easily pushed the attacks off with her kunai. She moved quickly weaving through attacks that had been thrown at her. She slashed several times and the woman tried to dodge. She was doing a good job, that is until she increased her speed.
"You only did so well because I wanted you to do well," she said and soon she stabbed the kunai surrounded by lightning into the woman. She collapsed in excruciating pain. Electricity was coursing through her body. She stopped moving and a nin moved to check on her.
"She's still alive, just unconscious," the nin said and the unconscious woman was pulled out of the arena.
She was impressed. The woman with the cat mask was almost ranked in the middle for the ANBU, so she had to wonder just how skilled this woman was. Yes, she knew the woman was capable of using multiple elements, and some in conjunction with others. She knew that this woman was already to be qualified as an ANBU so she would have one more fight for her. A man with a kitsune mask walked into the arena. If she managed to beat this man, she would earn the fox mask, though of a different color and markings. He was currently ranked first among those that were ranked at kitsune.
She looked at the man and knew what she was going to do. It would be easy enough. She would not give him a chance like she had for the woman with the neko mask. The one with the tori mask was easy enough.
"A pretty thing like you doesn't belong in the ANBU," he retorted. "You should be on your back, a man like me pounding into you." Tsunade glared at him.
'Teach that insolent male his place,' Toga growled at her, his vision red with anger.
"You should not have said that," she snarled, eyes narrowed. She placed the kunai away in her pouch and rammed the halberd into the ground, causing a crack to go from where she stood and barely stopping before it reached him. "I will destroy you with my bare hands and teach you your place." She would wait for the Hokage's signal and he would be defeated in a swirl of an inferno.
"And begin!" Kagome wasted no time. She flew through the hand signs quickly before calling her technique as the man charged towards her. "Sho_netsujigoku gufu no jutsu." And the arena was engulfed in flames. The man cried out and when she felt his chakra dwindling did she stop the technique. The man was in the middle of the arena, charred, but his mask protected his face. She had a sadistic smirk on her face before approaching him.
"You will never be better than me." She stood straight. "He is not dead." The medics swarmed the charred body. He would be lucky to be able to move again. She seemed to pull something from her pouch. "Use this when you treat him. It should reduce scarring and help rebuild any damaged tissue." She threw what looked to be a canister of some sort. She saw Tsunade's expression. "I studied advanced medicine while I was away."
Tsunade never realized just how dangerous Kagome was when upset. She hoped no one ever pissed her off to the point to where she killed them, unless it was an enemy nin. A shiver went up her spine. At the male's insult she had felt another unknown chakra emerge in Kagome, and she had looked almost feral. She would have to be careful about her and make sure no one insulted her, lest she be down another ninja. She was knocked out of her thoughts by Shizune.
"Here is your ANBU mask and uniform," she said as Shizune approached. She was wary of having Shizune near Kagome.
"Arigato." She bowed politely to Shizune. Yes, she knew the Hokage and Shizune were wary of her. She opened the box to see a black kitsune mask with red markings. She scowled, especially when Toga growled out at the insult. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama."
"Is something wrong?" Her eyes narrowed on Kagome and the influx of that unknown chakra.
"This is an insult," she stated bluntly.
"It will be the rank of ANBU you are until you can prove other wise. It being the color it is means you are ranked first in that ranking. You will have to work to be up there with the tigers and Inu." She saw the utter melancholy look on her face. She was not amused by this. "Dismissed." The ANBU left. In a few days she would put out the new teams and reinstate Kakashi to ANBU status.
"You seemed to upset her with that ANBU mask," Shizune pointed out.
"I know this. I don't know why though." She sighed. She needed some sake right about now.
Sesshomaru thought about his date with Kagome the night before. She was dressed nicely in a black dress. It was simple and she was wearing black heels that wrapped around her ankles. She was wearing silver eye shadow, and pink lip gloss. Her hair was up in an elegant do. Her pale neck was exposed and her skin seemed to glow in the light of the moon. He had taken her to a nice candle lit dinner and for once, he had no biting comments, not like when he was approached by other women. He had ended the nice night with a kiss. She was a little shy, but he knew it was because she had never gone on a date before. As a ninja she knew what she had to do, as a woman, she didn't know what to do when with a man. At least he knew more about her.
He wanted another date with her. He would have to find time to find her. Yes, he knew she lived with Kakashi, but she trained a lot as well, so he knew not when she would be there and he would have to wait until he saw her again. He knew he would see her sooner or later, with her being an ANBU now. He was just going to go home.
She lay on the bed, the mask thrown on the floor. She was not a kitsune. She was an Inu and she was insulted when they gave her the mask of the kitsune. She would just make Tsunade see that she was wrong when she gave her the mask of the kitsune. She scowled and decided she needed to start dinner. Kakashi had been called to the Hokage's office so she did not know when he would be back. Hopefully he would be back by the time she was done with making dinner.
"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked as he stood in front of her.
"Yes. I am reinstating you as an ANBU." She slid forward the Inu mask. It wasn't anything special, red markings for the eyes and mouth and it was white in color. She was sure it would tick Kagome off, but Kakashi had more experience than she did. "Be here in three days with the other ANBU."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." He bowed and left. He was surprised, but he knew that now that Kagome was an ANBU, he had to protect her even more. Those missions were harder than the others.
He came into the house to see Kagome bent over in a pair of shorts. She was placing food on the table. He groaned quietly. He always had to walk in at the wrong moment.
"Excited again, I see," She said as she stood up. She looked at him and saw the Inu mask in his hand. "You were reinstated, I take it." He nodded. She approached and took the mask from his hand. She looked at it and pulled down the mask that hid his face. "I will have to work to catch up to you, Kakashi." She smiled at him and his breath caught. He leaned down and kissed her, playfully nipping at her lower lip. She opened her mouth and he swooped in, claiming what he was getting addicted to. True there was a gap in age, but for ninja it didn't matter. Their life expectancy was low.
He pulled back and looked at her slightly swollen lips. "Time to eat, Kakashi." She pushed him into a chair, placing the Inu mask gently on the counter. She sat and the two ate in a comfortable silence. He could get used to coming home to her cooking and a kiss like that.
They were standing around the Hokage's office. She would be announcing teams when everyone got here. There were a few people missing. For once they were not waiting for Kakashi. He was standing in full ANBU gear with Kagome at his side, still upset about the mask, but he chuckled at her and made the comment that she was adorable when she was upset. Of course the only ones to hear this were Sesshomaru and Itachi, standing close to them. She was glad she was wearing the mask, otherwise everyone would see the blush that dusted her cheeks.
"Now for the teams." The Hokage went through the teams. "The next team is Taisho Sesshomaru, Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi" -murmurs went through the room at the mention of his name- "Hyuga Neji, and Higurashi Kagome." Conveniently enough they were already standing in a group and there were complaints that the whole team was nothing but clan prodigies, which seemed unfair to everyone else. She continued to list teams then dismissed them. It was a good nine teams, each having five to six people on each team.
"Hn." Sesshomaru looked at her. He approached her and knew Kakashi and the others were watching him, Itachi with a glare, Hyuga with a scowl and Kakashi seemed a little cautious. "Kagome, I was wondering if you would go on another date with me?" He looked her in the eye and knew the other men had tensed.
"Alright." She nodded. She wondered what he had in mind this time.
Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. It was delayed but I have a place to live now, which was the hold up. And now I am going back to watching my 55 inch 3D television. Oh, and read, review, and ENJOY!