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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(Two Weeks/Three Days Later)

Sakura yawned as she curled up in the warmth of the long-sleeved black sweater that had kept her from freezing over the last couple of weeks. She looked inside the ice cavern; a white fob of breath escaped her lips. "Kagome...how are you doing it?" She pulled a ration from her pack and made to unwrap it, stopping, she looked at the girl under the waterfall. A light petal pink glow had started surrounding her during the second day of her meditation and hadn't stopped since, if anything, it had only grown stronger and brighter. Placing the ration back in her pack, she sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I'm starving...but you haven't eaten anything for seventeen days..."

Aside from the glowing, the soft murmured chant of Na Mo A Mi Tuo Fo had ceased and silence had surrounded them. Every time she switched with Hayate, she wondered what Kagome was doing, or if maybe she was seeing something behind those closed eyes. How she could sit there unmoving...for so long... she must be thinking of something to keep her there like that. Right?

The light padding of footsteps drew her eyes towards the corridor she sat in, "...Genma..."

He walked to the entrance, as close as he ever got, and leaned against the wall where he stared at Kagome from afar. "How's it going?"

"No change...still glowing...still unmoving."

"Oh?" His eyes widened at the slightest flutter of eyelids. "Look again."

Sakura lifted her head and her eyes widened as she watched blue eyes appear from the lids that had once hidden them away. The glow that surrounded Kagome gently ebbed and flowed before subsiding all at once. "K-Kagome!"

Kagome lifted her head and her eyes met pale jadeite eyes that were filled with relief and worry. "..." the water was still drumming against her shoulders as she uncrossed her legs and slowly slipped back into the spring. Wading back to the surface, her long black hair was soaked against her cheeks, thankful to have had it in a braid before taking her place under the waterfall. As she moved through the water, she could feel the numbing sensation and tingles of her legs waking up. They were weak...she was weak...and she was hungry. Pulling herself out of the Spring, she laid down next to the stone statue of the Fox that no longer had its head bowed down but had lifted its head in anticipation of her completion.

Genma watched as the statue next to them bowed its head and took that as a sign that he could enter the chamber. Running quickly to Kagome's side with Sakura next to him, he pulled her up and lifted her carefully into his arms. Holding her...felt nothing short of holding a bag of ice. Making his way out of the chamber, he stopped and looked back at Sakura, "grab her clothes."

"Right," She took the clothes and shoes from the basket before racing after Genma who was moving quickly to get out of the iced chamber.

Hayate woke up to the commotion and as he sat up, his eyes found Kagome almost immediately as he pulled the blanket he'd been using from the ground and held it out as Genma laid her down in Hayate's arms. Sakura was behind him with a pile of clothes and shoes that she laid down on the floor before moving next to Kagome. "She's freezing cold, ekhm." Hayate wrapped her warmly in the wool blanket and carefully laid her down.

"She's fine, she's just tired and cold. Once she warms up and comes to, she needs to eat and dress. I don't think this see-through robe will cut it in the Finals." Genma muttered the last part as he fingered the chiffon fabric that was spilling out of the bottom of the cocoon that Kagome had been wrapped warmly in.

Hayate coughed into his fist and chuckled, "who knows, that might be a winning factor in her case." He smirked weakly at the annoyed look on Genma's face as they took time to relish the fact that Kagome was no longer in the cavern below. "Is there something we can wrap her hair in?"

Sakura looked around, "I'll go see if there is something in the room where we found the blanket."

About twenty minutes passed before Sakura returned with another blanket. As Genma lifted Kagome's head, Sakura pulled her hair and undid the braid so that she could properly dry the long black locks. "When will we leave? It's been seventeen days..."

Genma nodded, "tomorrow is the night of the full moon...we need to leave tonight. It's early still...so hopefully she will wake up within the next few hours...let's see how it goes."

(One Day Later)

Ino looked around the stadium with Kiba and Chouji beside her. The three looking for seats, Kiba gave Ino a slight tug to her sleeve and nodded his head towards a few seats.

"Look at this turn out!" Ino climbed in after Chouji and Kiba, looking around at the large gathering of on watchers. "This is insane..."

Chouji pointed at the arena ground, "look! I can see Shikamaru, Hinata and Shino!"

True enough, Ino turned her eyes to see Shikamaru, Shino and Hinata all standing next to one another. Next to them was the Sand Ninja Siblings, Temari and Gaara. "Where are the others? Where is the other sibling?" She looked around the audience and could see the black bodysuit of the puppeteer a few seats away from them. "Kankuro!" She called out to him and grinned at the surprised lift of his head as he turned wide eyes to face them. She waved him over and laughed at Kiba who was grumbling at the fact that Ino was inviting the sand nin to sit with them. "Hey, join us!"

Kankuro frowned but sat down next to her. "Is this where all the losers are sitting?"

Sighing, she gave a weak laugh, "I try not to think about the loss...I'm here to support my teammates. You too, right?"

"Sure, that's it." Kankuro rolled his eyes, "it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't know anyone here and have nothing else to do."

Kiba scoffed, "don't complain, you're fight was intense. Both you and Kagome were amazing. Ino on the other hand..."

"Watch it!" She stood and brought her knuckles painfully to his head as she hit him as hard as she could.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kiba rubbed the growing knot on his head, "damn...!" He looked up and grinned, "there's Lee and Neji...just missing Kagome, Naruto and Sasuke now. What are the matches like?"

Ino opened her guide for the matches and her eyes trailed over the brackets, "Temari and Shikamaru are the first match...Kagome is in the second match against Gaara..."

"Against Gaara!?" Kankuro looked at his brother as he lost a little color to his face. "If she's smart, she'll give up..."

Chouji chuckled as he stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth, "you'll be disappointed to find out that she's not smart then, she won't give up unless she's forced into it."

Ino nodded, "Kagome's a fighter if I've ever seen one." She brushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and read the third match out loud. "The Hyuuga match will be interesting...Neji and Hinata...oh! Sasuke versus Naruto! That's gonna be fierce. Lee will fight Shino and...and then we will see the matches that follow based on the winners of these matches." She closed the guide and frowned, "however, with Kagome not here...then neither Sasuke nor Naruto are anywhere to be seen, two matches may not take place at all."

"Don't worry too much about Kagome,"

Ino jumped and turned around, "Sakura?! Where have you been?"

"I was on a mission with Kagome, so...needless to say, we made it in time."

Ino grinned, "sit?"

Sakura took the unoccupied seat next to Kankuro and gave a small wave to Chouji and Kiba, "Ino, you cut your hair..." she eyed the shoulder length locks and looked into her friend and rivals' hazy light blue eyes.

"Yeah..." she twirled a lock around her finger and smiled softly, "I was motivated to let go of past fixations...thank you for that." She smiled at Sakura who blushed and looked away, turning her eyes to the arena below as Kagome walked out and a loud uproar sounded around the arena at her appearance. "There she is..."

"I'm telling you, Kagome's a sure-fire win..."

Kankuro shook his head at Chouji's comment, "you've got no idea about what you are talking about."

Kiba frowned, "Kankuro isn't making things up..." he stared at Kagome with worry as he recalled the blood shower he'd witnessed in the Forest of Death. "He could kill her easily..."

Kankuro sighed. He liked Kagome...like his sister, the fact that she approached Gaara as a friend had been something that had impressed them. They didn't want to see her get hurt...and Gaara would most definitely hurt her.

"Alright! Naruto is here!" Ino yelled out, blushing at the looks her friends gave her.

Sakura eyed Ino and smiled before returning her eyes to the arena. "Just missing Sasuke now..." she watched as Hayate called to everyone's attention and smiled at Naruto's loud laugh. "LET'S GO TEAM KONOHA!" She drew in eyes from all around her. Recognizing a few of the Shinobi around them, she blushed and waved at Izumo and Kotetsu who were chuckling at her from the other side of Chouji.

Kankuro raised a brow, "of course, you guys wouldn't want to step on toes. So, cheer for all of Konoha's contestants as a whole...right?"

Kiba rolled his eyes, "don't speak for all of us, I'm here to support Shino and Hinata. Also, I seriously wanna see Sasuke and Naruto fight..."

Ino blushed, "I'm here to support Shikamaru and...and Naruto..."

Turning her wide eyes to Ino, she waited to hear an explanation, but the blush on her blonde friends' cheeks was a clear identification to what her reason was. 'No way! Ino likes Naruto!? Since when...?'

"They are starting! The Hokage is standing up to talk..." Chouji said suddenly, watching as Hayate stepped up before the group lined up in the arena. The ten contestants were below listening to their sickly proctor and the crowd was crying out in their excitement. "I guess they are moving on without Sasuke..."

Sakura frowned, "...I'm sure he'll show up...his first fight is up against Naruto...there's no way he'll miss that. Naruto would never let him live it down." She looked to the entrance and wondered where Sasuke and Kakashi were, 'he'll be disqualified if he's late...Naruto would hate that. Winning like that...no doubt, he'd be furious. Come on Sasuke...you have to show up...'

"Welcome all, and our deepest thanks for coming here to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, for this years, Chuunin Selection! We have come, to the final completion, between the ten candidates who made it through the preliminaries! We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have been completed. Now, everyone enjoy!"

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Me: Here is chapter 48! I will start on 49 next! Let me know what you think and I hope you all enjoy!

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