Becoming Higurashi

Jessylane318

A/N: This is a message to let you know that these chapters have not been edited more then a quick spell check. I will do that when I finish the story. Thanks and enjoy…

Kakashi watched the girl oddly from his perch on the window. She hardly seemed like the same woman he had left behind at the well in Wave Country. Whereas the Kagome he knew was confident, kind, and full of passion, the one in front of him appeared broken and afraid. Her face, which usually held some kind of emotion (typically distrust and anger), just seemed empty and pale.

She looked so frail, rubbing the red beads of the rosary between her fingers. He must be getting old, because he felt the distinctive urge to comfort her.

"Don't worry so much," he finally said, breeching the silence with a plastered smile. "He'll be okay! It's just a matter of time before he shows up at the gates…"

She did not look satisfied.

"He's eleven, I'll be lucky if he doesn't get skewered by a mountain boar."

He blinked. Well that was optimistic…

"There aren't any mountains to the south of us."

"Well that's good," she said dryly. "That just leaves what, poisonous spiders, snakes, bears, and ninja! Assuming he doesn't run out of food first, then he'll die of starvation, or bathe in a river and catch pneumonia. He doesn't know the first thing about real survival except what he learned in boy-scouts."

"Boy scouts?" he asked curiously.

"It's some stupid group that teaches how to survive in the wilderness."

"Then why are you worried?" This boy scouts sounded like what they taught in the academy. Surely he would be fine to travel only a few hundred miles. The snakes would not be on the main paths, and Wave had no ninja. Assuming the boy didn't take any detours, he could arrive any day.

"Because he doesn't know anything about protecting himself!" she exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes, rosary clinched in her fist. "I should have just told him everything, maybe none of this would have happened…"

Now he was interested—getting her to talk about her past was like pulling teeth.

"Souta is strong minded, much like you, I doubt things would be different."

The tears were actually falling steadily and he struggled inwardly with what to do. Should he comfort the girl? Should he leave her alone? He stood slowly and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

Before he knew what was happening, however, she had wrapped her arms around him and he stiffened at the contact. He clamped down on the instinct to flee and stroked her hair as he remembered his own sensei doing for him.

They stood that way for several minutes, her tears seeping into his uniform and snot dripping from her nose.

"I'm sorry," she whispered slowly as she pulled away. He let her go and rubbed his hair uncomfortably. "I didn't mean too… I mean, I'm-"

"Mah," he waved casually to her. "It's okay!"

And then she was falling into pieces again. What had he done this time! He put his hands in front of him terrified.

"No, no. I'm sorry, please don't cry!"

She paused for a moment, and seemed to stare at his face, until a small giggle poured unconsciously from her mouth. He blinked and she covered her mouth with a terrified expression.

"Did you just…"

She shook her head with large, doe-like eyes.

"You laughed at me!" he exclaimed, hoping that she'd do it again. Anything was better then the tears. "I'm so unappreciated…"

"No, no!" she said suddenly, buying into his routine hopelessly. Had she been this gullible before? "It's not that, I'm sorry, but you looked so much like InuYasha for a moment…"

He lifted a brow, curious again. He had heard her and Souta arguing about that person before. Was that the man she was in love with?

"I mean you don't look at all like him," she said tiredly with a yawn. "But he hated when I cried. He would make that same face…"

She slowly picked herself out of the couch and he watched her rub her eyes lightly.

"Thank you Kakashi," she finally said, sincerity lining the depths of her face. She glanced at the small stain on his shirt, and he knew exactly what for. "Good night."

He nodded and let her leave, his mind whirling with questions. He swallowed them for the moment though, knowing he'd need patience to unravel this mystery. The Hokage had sent him specific instructions to uncover her secrets, discover if she was a threat, and keep her firmly away from Danzo. He certainly understood why.

He looked up just in time to see an arrow infused with pink chakra embedded in the ice mirror, shattering it on impact.

Her fight with Haku had proven to him just how dangerous she could be. He seriously doubted, however, that she would just randomly start attacking the village. Her agenda had always been to take her brother and leave.

Still, he could understand Danzo's interest. Her raw energy caused his skin to prickle and sting, almost as though he were naturally allergic to it. He had never heard of such a bloodline.

He grinned beneath the mask, eyes glinting beneath the ceiling light. He would enjoy this challenge.