Becoming Higurashi

Jessylane318

Kagome stood in front of Sakura, her hands reshaping positions and folding hands. She shaped the girl under her hands, marveling at how quickly the girl picked up on the forms.

"You force your arm up," she demonstrated, her own arm sweeping through the air. She waited for Sakura to try.

"I'm tired…" muttered the girl, a thick sheen of sweat covering her face. They had been in the field for at least three hours, the sun burning down on their backs. She was lucky the weather was fair.

Kagome remembered Sango teaching it to her in the freezing rain, batting at misplaced elbows and stepping on toes that stepped even a hair out of line. It had been painful, and Kagome had dreaded the nights for a month with her sore muscles and bruised skin.

Now she thanked every god that the demon slayer had insisted.

"Be strong Sakura!" she barked harshly. She tried to ignore how the flinch cut into her heart. She really wasn't cut out for this. "You may not have the luxury of rest. Are you going to let your team-mates die because you couldn't hold out?"

She watched the girl wilt.

It stung her hand to pop her back into place, forcing the girl back into position.

"Don't loose your posture," she said after another long inspection. "In a fight you don't have time to think, you just do. You must train your body in good habits or else it will fail you."

She waited patiently and counted out ten more minutes in silence, watching the girl struggle. Just ten more minutes and this lesson would be over. Time seemed to drag forever and Kagome fought to keep her composure. She couldn't afford to be nice, not when the girl's life was on the line.

"Okay," she said finally, backing away with a kind smile. "That's all for today."

Sakura collapsed in the grass, and Kagome made no move to reprimand her. She would be itching by the end of the night, but she would allow her this small reprieve.

"That was terrifying, Ms. Kagome!" said the girl panting heavily in the grass.

Kagome sat beside her and sighed deeply, inwardly agreeing.

"Why do you know so much about fighting Ms. Kagome?" asked the girl after several minutes of silence. The priestess took a moment to think before responding.

"My friend taught me." Sakura looked like she wanted to know more, and Kagome felt the odd need to elaborate. "Her name was Sango, she was a very powerful warrior who had trained all of her life to be a demon exterminator."

"What's that?"

Kagome chuckled to herself, having already forgotten to whom she was talking to.

"Do you remember that well Souta and I jumped into?"

"Yea," said the child. "Naruto was going to jump in after you guys, but Sensei stopped him."

"Ah," Kagome let loose a full-blown grin. "That sounds just like him. But that well didn't always lead here, once it was a portal to the Feudal Era of Japan."

"Is Japan where you're from?"

"Yes. Souta and I are from the modern Era, much like this one, except the only ninja we have are those in books. Wars are much more dangerous, and our cities more numerous. Tokyo could encompass at least a hundred Konohas, with buildings so tall we call them sky scrappers."

Sakura looked unbelieving. She didn't blame the girl, sometimes it sounded like a fairytale to even her.

"Despite all of that, our time is a relatively peaceful one. However, when I was fifteen, a centipede demon came crawling out of the well, muttering about a jewel. I had no idea what it was talking about. It attacked me and somehow managed to pull me into the well."

"What happened next?"

She smiled at the anxious girl.

"Well, I accidentally blew some of its arms off. And then I ran screaming through the forest."

Sakura giggled and she made a face. A moment later she became serious, remembering the ending.

"I had to learn to defend myself. We battled demons at every turn, and I nearly died at least a dozen times trying to understand my powers. Sango taught me how to fight if I ever lost my bow. You'd be amazed how many times that happens…"

Like now, she wanted to say.

"Why are you doing this?" Kagome asked suddenly, looking at the girl's awed face. "Why do you want to be a ninja? It's not a pretty profession, and as smart as you are, you could do anything."

Sakura blushed brightly, but Kagome did not waver. She needed a reason to fight for.

"I'm fighting for me," she stumbled through. Kagome didn't need special ninja training to know it was a lie.

"That's not good enough," the priestess said darkly. "Why are you really fighting? Is it for Sasuke's attention?"

"No!"

She looked embarrassed.

"Then what makes you get up every time when it seems hopeless? What makes you strive to be better then before? When you can answer that, Sakura, you won't be left behind."

She rose suddenly from the ground and stuck out her hand. The child looked at it oddly before grasping it tightly. She pulled the pink-haired student to her feet and gave a grin.

"I believe in you."

And with that, Higurashi Kagome walked off.