Lean on Me...
Summary: She was found at such a young age, taken in by Shikaku, not as a daughter, but as a wife in training for his youngest son. How will this affect the Nara Clan...more specifically the laid back, easy going, semi-lazy...Shikamaru?
Anime: InuYasha/Naruto
Pairing: Shikamaru/Kagome
Genre: Romance/Comfort/Hurt
Rated: M for Mature
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AGES RIGHT NOW
AGES
Kagome – 11
Rookie Nine – 12
Neji – 13
Itachi - 18
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"The second test..." Kagome stretched her arms over her head, not accustomed to sitting down in school anymore, her back was killing her. She dropped her eyes to the boy who was standing up next to her, "hey, hey...mind if I join you?"
He looked curiously at her, "whatever for?"
"Hm?" She shrugged, "just till we get to the second exam...I... kind of want to avoid hanging around the others for a bit until I absolutely have to. I have so many friends here...that...I don't want my heart to waver even a little...I want to take this to the end." She blushed at the uninterested look he was giving her. "Silly, sorry...just forget I said anything."
She started walking off when something halted her movements. Glancing down, a thin rope of sand had wrapped around her ankle.
"I didn't say "no" ..." he turned and walked away as the sand returned to the gourd. "Just don't talk too much."
Kagome grinned as she chased after her new friend. She met Shikamaru's eyes as she ran by him, turning so that she was lightly jogging backwards as she gave him two thumbs up.
Shikamaru returned the hand motion with a lazy smirk as he watched her leave, two of the girls from his old class at the Academy chasing after her.
"Hey, where is Kagome going?" Ino asked as she joined Chouji and Shikamaru. She'd been certain that Kagome was going to come straight to Shikamaru after the test, but was stunned when she just left, and with Shinobi from another village entirely.
Shikamaru shrugged, "doesn't matter, we're all going to the same place, after all."
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Glancing around outside as she stepped into the sun, she felt eyes on her and turned to see Shikaku standing with Hayate, Genma, Chouza and Inoichi. Smiling, she waved a hand before taking off in a run to catch up to Gaara and his team, which wasn't difficult.
Kagome glanced back at the two girls following her steps as she ran alongside Gaara, and after their next Proctor. Smirking, she called out to the girls, "how was your test? Any problems?"
Ami glared, "we passed, didn't we? No thanks to you..."
Fuki's eyes lingered on Kagome, she remained silent but felt herself becoming frustrated too. It was true that they were stand ins for this girl, so that she could test with the others, and Ami was making it difficult by butting heads with the girl ahead of them. Though, she couldn't deny how frustrating it was, that this girl a year younger than they were, was already so much further ahead of them. She couldn't participate with her team, because her team was already made up of two Tokubetsu Jounin...she herself was only a Genin. It made sense that the Hokage would create a team specifically for the girl. Yes...it made sense...Kagome...was after all, a favorite of the Lord Hokage. Almost everyone in the village was aware of this. She was some orphaned girl, who'd been saved and brought back by the InoShikaCho squad...taken in by the Nara clan...and has pressed onward since the day she'd come to the village. Trained by the Prodigal Uchiha who turned to massacring his entire Clan, save one..., she'd been the sparring partner of the Hyuuga prodigy for a while. Then spoiled profusely by the Academy's Advanced Class Instructor, Genma Shiranui, who saw to her training in specialty fields instead of taking the Advanced class with the other Academy students. Everyone saw her endless potential, but as students, it was daunting...and a bit discouraging. Fuki shook her head as she forced her mind clear of her thoughts.
Kagome who had taken notice of the marron hair colored girls tranced state of body, acknowledged her silence as common sense. She was smarter than her rude purple haired friend.
"Isn't that your team?" Gaara asked from where he was beside her.
She turned her eyes to Gaara and raised a brow, "are you saying that you are on friendly terms with your team?" She'd seen the nervousness in the older males' stance when he'd been about to ask Gaara why she was following him. Even the older female on his team seemed a bit on edge. Gaara looked forward and gave her no response. She chuckled, "my point."
As they finally arrived at the location Anko had led them to, the teams spread out. With Gaara and Kagome's team standing off to the side and listening from a distance. The majority of the Rookie Nine were all grouped together, and then other groups were off on their own.
"What a feeling..." Kagome frowned, her eyes looked over the shadowed forest and a sense of discontentment settled over her.
"This is the location for the second phase of the exam. It's the forty-forth battle training zone...but we call it, the Forest of Death."
"...the name itself is corny, but perhaps not too far off." She turned her eyes curiously to a square rock that was chasing Naruto around and sighed. "A distraction?"
A trio from the academy made themselves known whilst causing a scene amongst the passing Genin. She watched curiously as Naruto tried to shoo them off. Only recognizing one of the kids as Konohamaru, and she knew him because he was the Third Hokage's grandson.
"Relax for a bit, we're taking a ten-minute break! For anyone who is scheduled to be interviewed please be courteous and respectful to the reporters from the Academy Newspaper."
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"So what's your name?" The blonde asked as she sat down with her back to a tree.
Blue eyes turned to the exquisite green eyes that stared curiously back at her. "Kagome, you are?"
"I'm Temari, Gaara's older sister. Kankuro here is my younger brother and Gaara's older brother."
"Oh wow! How fun!"
"Fun?" Kankuro turned his head in her direction, "what is?"
"A team made up of siblings!" She smiled, "that sounds like it'd be a lot of fun."
The two glanced between each other before forcing awkward laughs, "yeah...it's a ton of fun."
Kagome raised a brow, "don't force yourself. I guess siblings don't always see eye to eye either."
"..."
Temari sighed, "you must be an only child,"
Kagome nodded, "yep, I don't have any siblings, but I live with the Nara's, and so I grew up with Shikamaru...he and I don't always see eye to eye either."
"What about your parents?" Kankuro finally joined his sister and Kagome on the ground, glancing at her teammates who were a bit distant from her and Gaara who, while he was close to them, wasn't sitting in their makeshift circle either.
"...they were both killed while I was five, so the Nara's took me in." She pointed to Shikamaru who was looking in her direction. "That's Shikamaru..."
Kankuro nodded, feeling for the girl in front of him while his sister eyes Shikamaru curiously before turning back to Kagome.
"Kagome! Kagome!"
Turning around, she eyed the three kids that were running her way. "...what is it?" she asked, not wanting to be interviewed, and not feeling comfortable with all the attention she was garnering once more.
"Can you tell us a bit about yourself? As a Genin, I mean..." Konohamaru asked, placing his pencil to the notepad as he waited eagerly.
"As a Genin? Like...what?"
"Tell us about your team! Tell us about your missions and-"
"Classified..." she commented, "I don't wish to answer such questions."
Konohamaru ducked his head down a bit and frowned, "oh...um..."
"my training partner for a long time was Neji Hyuuga and graduated from the Academy at eleven...what else do you need to know?"
"How about your dreams in the future?" He asked, certain that she'd at least answer that.
Kagome smiled and closed her eyes, "that's easy...my dream...is to become a great Shinobi, and a good wife...to have a beautiful family and to always be strong enough to protect the ones I love and care for. That is my dream." She could feel the eyes of those around her, all of them were settled curiously on her. She wondered if that dream was so strange, opening her eyes, she glanced towards Shikamaru who was looking down at his hands with a blush staining his cheeks. He barely met her eyes before looking quickly away. Kagome smiled and gave a soft laugh.
Konohamaru watched the interaction and quickly scribbled something down in his notepad before he glanced up at Kagome again. "Can I ask you one more thing?" Konohamaru asked.
"Sure, what is it?" She turned her attention back to the Grandson of the Third Hokage.
"...as an eleven-year-old Genin, what advice would you give to aspiring Shinobi who are still in the Academy?"
"Advice?" she looked down in thought and her mind traveled back in time before she smiled and looked straight into Konohamaru's eyes. "Skill, Ability, Greatness...these things are not determined by your name, but by your actions...those words were one of the few things my Sensei left with me."
"Who was your Sensei?"
She frowned and shook her head, "classified."
He sighed, but smiled, "he must have been amazing...whoever he was. Skill, Ability, Greatness...these things are not determined by your name, but by your actions..." he laughed, "I like that." He thanked her kindly and bowed before running off with the others in his group.
Kagome stared brokenly at the ground, a pair of aquamarine eyes settled on her and in the distance, two sets of black eyes had also found her. One watched her in worry, the other...in frustration. Kagome could feel the stares, but her heart was hurting, and she couldn't bring herself to meet anyone's eyes. Anko called to the attention of the Genin; standing, Kagome readied her resolve. Whatever lay behind that fence line, she would face it all head on! 'That's right...Itachi...I'm still pushing forward! So watch me! Watch me persevere!'
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Me: Here you all go! Chapter 29 is up and I hope you all enjoyed! Now, since this is a Kagome/Shikamaru fic, that means Temari won't end up with Shikamaru, which means Shikaidai won't be born. I know...sad...and I like that family. ANYWAYS! I want to play a game with you all, I already know who she'll end up with, so, I wonder if you guys can figure it out. Just remember, if you pair her with someone who has a significant other in Canon, you have to place the person she's replacing with someone too. GOOD...LUCK!
