Chapter 26: Rough Training

"What do you mean Kakashi isn't our sensei anymore?" Naruto asked when they went to the Hokage's office.

"He has been reinstated as an ANBU and has just been assigned a team. We are looking for a new sensei for your team," Tsunade said to the disgruntled youth. Sakura and Sasuke both had sour faces at the announcement. "You won't have any missions until we find you a new sensei, so enjoy the break while it lasts." The three left her office, not liking the news. It didn't help that the results of the chuunin exams were not out yet.

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Kagome groaned after a long day of training with her new team. It wasn't so much as hard, but it was spent with the men, namely Itachi, Sesshomaru, and Neji glaring and insulting each other. Kakashi was the only one that was not in the glaring match. Why was she placed on a team full of testosterone? She was feeling so unlucky right now. It started with Sesshomaru kissing her and thanking her for such a wonderful time in front of the others. Of course she had blushed at the attention and Neji and Itachi started to glare at him, and he glared in return. Of course Neji was the only one that had not known about her situation.

"Go take a shower, I'll cook dinner," Kakashi said, pushing her towards the stairs gently. "Hopefully it helps you feel better." She nodded and sighed as she started up the stairs. Hoping every day wasn't like that.

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Itachi scowled as he walked into the compound. He could see Sasuke staring at him, a glare on his face. He ignored him and sat at the table while his mother continued to cook dinner.

"A hard day of training?"

"Not really," he replied. "Training was spent with me, Neji, and Sesshomaru glaring and arguing."

"That is bad for a team, Itachi," she replied.

"I know, ha-hu-ei." He placed his head on the table.

"What were you arguing about?"

"We were arguing over a girl," he stated.

"A girl?"

"Higurashi Kagome," he specified.

"The little ugly girl that could use those advanced techniques?"

"She isn't ugly anymore," he stated. "She's beautiful." He slammed his head against the table. "But she won't even give me the time of day."

"What did you do to piss her off?"

She placed a cup of tea in front of him. "I challenged her to a fight and used a dirty trick to beat her before demanding she go on a date with me."

"That was where you went wrong," his mother said. "Women like romantic men. Yes, your father doesn't seem all that romantic, but he has his moments. Perhaps you should ask her on a date and take her somewhere romantic. I'm sure that would get you on her good side."

"Maybe." He slammed his head against the table again.

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Kagome scowled. They were supposed to be training but again, just like the day before, Sesshomaru, Itachi, and Neji were glaring at each other and arguing. Kakashi was off to the side with her. Her eye started to tick before she finally snapped.

"Knock it off, you three. We are supposed to be training and working on our teamwork." They looked at her before going back to arguing. She could hear Toga growling in the back of her mind at their disregard towards her, so whispered to her. She went through a few hand signs and formed a portal. From the portal she pulled a scroll from it before going through more hand signs. She threw the scroll up, it unraveling as she bit into her thumb. "Akuma no inu ga shōkan," she called, thumb running through the whole scroll. There was a poof and the ground rumbled. The three braced as the ground continued to rumble and split.

"Mistress," a loud voice boomed, smaller yips being heard.

"Restrain the three," she commanded, pointing at the three men that had been arguing before. The small dogs bounded over to them and climbed up them, knocking them over and holding them in place with claws and razor sharp teeth. "I hate repeating myself," she snapped at the three. "You will either get along and train with each other instead of arguing or I won't waste my time with any of you, do I make myself clear?" The three became silent. "Good." She looked to the dogs, only the biggest towered over the gates of Konoha. They looked fierce, yet cute to her. "You can release them now." They did so and bounded over to her. "Good job." She rubbed them behind their ears. "You are all so cute!" She hugged the giant one around his paw. "You guys can go now," she commented, patting the large paw. A small white one, small compared to the largest one, bounded over and sat in front of her, three fluffy tails wagging in varying intervals. His tongue was out in a grin, sharp ears standing at attention and liquid gold eyes looking up at her.

"He wants to stay with you. It will be easier to summon us the next time if he does stay."

"Alright." She rubbed the dog behind his ears. "You are just so soft." She hugged the dog, burying her face in his soft, fluffy fur. There were several "poof"s and the area was clear of the dogs, minus the white dog.

"Shall we start training then?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes." Kagome stood from hugging the dog.

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Itachi stumbled into the house, lazily pushing the sandals from his feet and collapsing at the table. His mother looked at him.

"Hard day?" She looked over him more carefully to see blood on him. "What happened to you? You look like you were attacked."

"Higurashi Kagome is not to be angered," he commented, head hitting the table. "We were arguing again and she summoned demon dogs to restrain us after we ignored her. Every time after that that we argued, the demon dogs would bite us, which felt like we were on fire. We just got done with practice." His head had hit the table again. This was the first time he came back injured from training.

"Maybe tomorrow you won't argue," she commented as she proceeded to set the table. "Can you go get your brother?"

"I cannot move right now, ha-hu-ei," he grumbled. He was too sore to move. It took him everything he had left to stumble home.

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Sesshomaru made it home, but he was sore and bloody. For once it wasn't a boring, unproductive training day. He now saw more of what Kagome was capable of, and she could be a bitch when you didn't take her seriously. They learned that the hard way, minus Kakashi. He was smart. He didn't argue with anyone and had not felt the fiery bite of that damn demon dog. Maybe he would keep his mouth shut tomorrow and just train with her and Kakashi and see if Neji and Itachi learned a lesson as well.

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Neji was rethinking about pursuing Kagome, if that was how she was going to treat him. But he could understand why she had done it. She had told them to stop but none of them had listened because one, she was younger than them and two, she was a female. She was probably the weakest one there as well. After all, Itachi, Sesshomaru, and Kakashi were inu while he was a tora. She was a kitsune, a middle ranked ninja. She couldn't be as skilled or powerful as them.

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Kakashi sighed as he cooked dinner. He was the only male to leave training unharmed. Kagome had still been put into a bad mood by the three so she was in the shower. Hopefully that would put her in a better mood. But he had to admit, training with the squad was starting to give him a headache. But he was getting better at cooking, without a doubt.

"It smells good, Kakashi," she said, coming in while drying her hair. She was in a pair of shorts and a tank top.

"Thank you." He looked away from her.

"You are excited again." She stopped drying her hair, the towel resting around her shoulders.

"I cannot help it," he mumbled as he sat down in his chair. "We should eat."

Kagome sat down and started to eat. She knew that her old sensei and other men were attracted to her. She had caught many of them staring when she walked through the village out of uniform. But she didn't have much time to find a husband that the elders approved of. Her attention was focused solely on her teammates. She was to marry one of them, and so far Kakashi was the only one that hadn't given her a headache. Of course she had a few great dates with Sesshomaru. She knew he wasn't completely emotionless, but it was only a front.

Neji, she knew nothing about him, and he made no effort to tell her more about himself. He didn't come off as someone interested in courting her. Itachi was arrogant and thought he'd get whatever he wanted. Because of that, she didn't want anything to do with him. She got along better with Kakashi and Sesshomaru, even if Sesshomaru found it hard to train with Itachi and Neji. She was sure it was because their dominating personalities clashed. But she would teach them that she was alpha, even if she was currently the lowest ranking of them.

Toga growled in her mind her approval at her comment. They would probably not like her, but they would respect her. She would make sure of it. Besides, she was protective of what was hers. She figured that was the influence of Toga. Inu yokai were protective of what they felt was theirs. This was her group, therefore that made them hers. Of course they didn't need to know of the inu like qualities she possessed. It would probably freak them out, and the last thing she needed was to lose the ones she was supposed to choose from.

"I'm going to sleep, Kakashi," she placed her plate in the sink and headed up the stairs. She climbed into bed and turned on to her side to sleep. She knew her headache would be gone in the morning.

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Kakashi sighed, stretching as he got out of bed. He had a wonderful, restful sleep. He just pulled on his training gear and left his room as Kagome left her room in knee length pants, bandages covering her lower legs, a fishnet shirt and a tank top. The pants and tank top were black. Her head band was tied around her neck loosely. She really did look hot.

"Come on Kakashi, time to go train." He nodded and followed her out. They made it to the training grounds, the white demon dog behind her, tongue lolling out of its mouth. It seemed to be grinning. Itachi, Sesshomaru and Neji were already there. They were not looking at each other, but they weren't bickering either, so it was better than the day before. "Well, let's get to training," Kagome said the demon dog making itself comfortable underneath a tree.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I won't make excuses, but yesterday and today I was distracted by the awesomeness of Halo: Reach. Yes, I a female play Halo: Reach. If you also play Halo, just add me. That user name is killyerjoy.

Terms:

Ha-hu-ei- formal/proper way of saying mother.

Akuma no inu ga shōkan- demon dog summon.