It had been a very long six months since she got back from that first mission. Most of it was intense training sessions broken up by difficult missions. Almost all of their missions pertained to the upcoming war they were trying their hardest to keep putting off. Kagome was less than pleased to know that she just got out of one war only to get plopped into a new one. At least this one shouldn't be as difficult as fighting against a psychotic spider demon super-powered by jewel shards. Much to her dislike she was gaining a reputation outside of Konoha. With the types of missions they got assigned, as Jiraiya was her sensei, it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately for her, some of the shinobi from Konoha were overheard talking during one of their missions and her despicable nickname had spread past Konoha's gates. She was starting to become known as the Witch of Konoha, and it pissed her off to no end. Why couldn't those idiotic shinobi just keep their mouths shut? She was not a witch! Thankfully none of them knew her actual name, they only had a light description. So far, at least outside of Konoha, Kagome Namikaze and the Witch of Konoha were still two different people. She desperately hoped she could keep it that way. Honestly, it wasn't like she actually used her Miko abilities outside of training sessions with Jiraiya. All she ever used was her healing and barriers. She never made her eyes glow and she had managed to get the glow around her down to barely visible when she used her abilities. Other than the loudmouths from Konoha, people from outside of Konoha had absolutely no evidence to associate her with a witch! If she ever found out which shinobi had spread her nickname, there was going to be less shinobi in Konoha.
Since she had met Fugaku Uchiha for the first time she had run into him a few more times. She always tried her best to keep the conversations brief and polite. Minato had warned her that Fugaku could be a real piece of work at the best of times. However, Kagome knew from dealing with demon royalty through Sesshomaru that making enemies with powerful people was a terrible idea. Even if you absolutely despise the person, plaster a smile on your face and chat like you are old buddies. So, she tried her best to keep herself carefully neutral with the man. She was nice and polite, but not trying to be overly friendly where he would try and start manipulating her. It was a careful balance, but she did her best. She tried her best to stay out of the Uchiha district all together, which Obito agreed with. That probably helped the most. She usually ran into him the most near the Hokage tower. She had run into his fiancé a couple times in the market and she seemed like a very nice lady. What she was doing with Fugaku she had no idea, most likely arranged marriage if she was being honest.
During all of her intense training sessions, she had learned a lot of new jutsu, which she was ecstatic about. She even learned a few that were outside of her elemental release. Those had been difficult to learn, but totally worth it. They took up more chakra to use so some of them were strictly only for dire situations. She was getting a lot better with her Fuinjutsu as well. She got a pretty good grasp of basic seals, but this particular skill was definitely going to be one she learns in the long run. Her training was mostly with Jiraiya, but she did split off from him at times. Minato still trains her from time to time, though he is just as busy as she is lately. Minato had finally mastered his new jutsu, he called it rasengan, and Kami is it powerful. She had no desire to learn it as it was not one of her chakra releases and looked way too complex for her. Minato taught it to Jiraiya, however. While those two were off training together Kagome trained with her terror trio. She didn't get to hang out with them as much as she would like lately, but hopefully, after this whole possible war thing, she would get more time to hang out with them more. They had tried to expand on her ability to heal from a distance, but she couldn't get it past more than one person at a time as of yet. Her soul and Ki core were still smaller than they used to be, so maybe when she got older, she'd be able to heal more. Only when the resources that fueled it grew though. Jiraiya had told her that his old teammate Tsunade was able to heal a bunch of people at the same time with help from her summon. That got her thinking a bit, she wasn't able to use a summon like Tsunade, but what if she made a mixture of Fuinjutsu and sutras into a talisman people could hold onto. Like bracelets or something similar. If she was able to tap into those talismans when she tried healing, would she be able to spread her reach? It was definitely something that she could start looking into, but she would have to get more familiar with Fuinjutsu first.
Midoriko hadn't been much active, which Kagome was eternally grateful for and at the same time extremely suspicious about. She had been having rather distressing dreams/nightmares recently that Kagome was beginning to suspect the crazed Miko was behind. She had been dreaming of both of her old families, but mainly her family from the future. Lately, it has been a mixture of Sota angry at her for breaking her promise about coming home and Shippo saddened that she abandoned him. She had taken to putting silencing sutras on her walls so Minato wouldn't hear her when she wakes up. She'd wake up sobbing the days the nightmares came. She knew they weren't real, but at the same time, they were both right. Jiraiya had hinted to her that he was possibly close to finishing up a Fuinjutsu seal that might work to seal Midoriko away permanently. They had to be very careful about what they said as she could be listening in at any time. Kagome wasn't allowing herself to be hopeful, however. If it ended up working, amazing, but if it didn't at least her hopes wouldn't be crushed.
On a happy note, to her immense joy, Minato and Kushina had finally started dating. She was around a lot now and Kagome really enjoyed it. She liked having a girl around to talk to. Minato absolutely hated it when Kushina and herself would team up against him. He never stood a chance. Surprisingly it hadn't been Minato who made the first step, it had been Kushina. Kagome and Minato had been on their way home from a training session when Kushina stepped in front of them. Kagome would always remember that day fondly.
"Minato Namikaze," Kushina shouted in a mixture of nervousness and annoyment.
Minato immediately straightened his posture as a nervous look of his own crossed his face. He started sweating a bit as he thought about what she might want. Shit, had he done something to upset her? He didn't remember doing anything too annoying recently. They had actually been getting along so much better the past few months.
He cleared his throat before simply asking, "Yes?"
Kushina's arm shot forward as she grabbed a fistful of Minato's shirt as she pulled him forward slightly, "I am sick of waiting." She growled slightly.
Minato really wasn't sure what to do, "Waiting for what?" he asked as he desperately tried holding off a blush at their suddenly close-ness.
Kushina let out a sharp breath of determination before stating, "You, Minato, are going to take me out on a proper date tomorrow. You'll pick me up at noon, and I expect flowers. Even your sister was nice enough to get me flowers."
Minato was struck speechless as the blush he had been trying to hold back flowed free. Kagome did her best to hide the laughter that was shaking her whole body. She didn't know what was funnier; the way Kushina 'asked' him out on a date or Minato's reaction.
Kushina suddenly leans in, closing the distance between him, and gave Minato a quick kiss on the cheek, "Don't you dare be late Namikaze." Then without another word she body-flickered away leaving the two siblings.
When Minato did absolutely nothing for a good thirty seconds Kagome grew worried, "Uh, Minato-Nii, you alright there?" when he didn't answer she made her way in front of him. His face was the reddest she had ever seen anyone; she could practically see the smoke rising from the top of his head. Then to Kagome's astonishment, he suddenly fainted. She let out a shriek of surprise and dashed forward to catch him before he hit the ground. She grunted under the weight of her brother. It was official, Kushina had broken her brother.
After she had dragged his dead weight back home and he finally woke back up, he had been a right terror. She had never seen her brother so flustered over anything before. Their first date had gone by quickly followed by the second and third. Soon after they became official boyfriend and girlfriend. Kagome honestly couldn't be happier. She was happy that her brother was happy.
Their first date had been pretty fun to watch take place, Kagome had mentioned it to her friends that it was happening and they were just as excited as she was. They had decided to follow them around make sure the date went well, her friends were around her brother so much that they wanted the two of them to start dating just as much as she did. From what they could tell it was going well. They were both blushing lightly, which Kagome found absolutely adorable. Kushina was even laughing at her brother's terrible sense of humor. A genuine smile found it's way onto Kagome's face as she watched the two of them. They might not see it yet, but they were so good for each other. Love was blossoming and it warmed her heart. Honestly, the two of them reminded her of Sango and Miroku. It was nice to see something so genuinely good in times of looming darkness. Kagome was looking forward to gaining an older sister in the near future.
Kagome let out an eep of surprise when she felt a hand settle on the top of her head. She heard Rin let out a shriek of surprise next to her as well. They both looked up to see Jiraiya standing right behind them giving them an amused look. That was why she hadn't sensed someone approaching behind them, Jiraiya and Shikaku were really the only ones that could still sneak up on her. It wasn't very often that someone was able to surprise her. She gave him a sheepish look.
"Why don't we give the lovebirds some privacy, yeah?" Jiraiya told them in amusement as he herded them away from the window.
"Aw, but I wanna make sure Minato-Nii doesn't mess everything up," Kagome whined out playfully.
Rin let out a giggle, trying to hide it behind her hand. She absolutely loved the relationship Kagome had with her brother. She found it really cute.
Jiraiya shook his head fondly, "Leave the idiot alone, I'm sure he'll be fine Go on and enjoy your last day off. We got a mission to start bright and early tomorrow."
"Fine, you killjoy." She pouted at him before turning to her surroundings and spoke in a slightly louder tone, "Let's go you guys, our fun is done for the day."
Jiraiya's amusement level flew through the roof as five more heads popped out of practically nowhere. His student had the weirdest friends.
Now to the present Kagome was out with her friends for a lunch meet-up. With how chaotic the past six-months had been she didn't have much if any, free time to hang out with them. If she was home on a weekend, she tried to make time for a group lunch. Though there were times that her friends skipped out on the second half of school during the week to meet up with her. It warmed her heart that her friends were so loyal to her, even if it got them in trouble. The academy was well into its current school year and oh boy did Kagome hear so many stories. Apparently, that one kid that Guy had claimed as his rival, Obito had practically done the same.
The Kid was a prodigy, which wasn't surprising with him being the son of the White Fang. His dad probably trained him up just as Minato had done with her. The Hatake had gotten permission at the end of the last year to skip a few grades and he ended up in her old class with all of her friends. A fact that annoyed Obito to no end, and in turn, he never stopped complaining about the boy. Kagome herself couldn't really hold an opinion one way or another as she had never actually met the kid. She had seen him a few times, but she had never talked to him. She'd never had a reason to.
Now, usually, she could handle all of Obito's complaining with no problem. She even found it entertaining at times when he really flew off the handle, but not today. She was sore and tired as she had been put through an extremely rough training session with Jiraiya that morning. They were all at a park and had been for a few hours, all of which had been filled with Obito ranting about the Hatake boy. Honestly, she was getting annoyed at both boys and she hadn't even met one of them! She tried her best to block him out, but when his voice raised another octave and he got louder she finally snapped. He was driving her crazy! All she had wanted was a quiet day with her friends. Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, that's it no more Miss nice Kagome.
Kagome stood up and slammed her hands on the picnic table gaining everyone's attention, "Oh my god Obito, would you stop talking about your boyfriend for one minute? We've all heard more than enough."
Laughter burst out of her friends as Obito whipped towards her.
Obito flushed bright red, "Hatake is not my boyfriend." He denied instantly, "I'm not gay, anyway." His gaze shot quickly to Rin and away, but Kagome had seen it and a knowing smirk appeared on her face. Obito had a crush on Rin! She filed that away for future knowledge before continuing the conversation.
"Well, with how much you talk about him what else was I supposed to think? Seriously, he is like all you talk about lately and you're driving us all crazy. We get it, you don't like the kid. Drop the subject already." Kagome groaned out. She got a chorus of agreement from her friends to her amusement and Obito's embarrassment.
"Sorry," Obito mumbled out, embarrassment was clearly written all over his face.
"And with that end note, I really need to get going. My mom wants me home for dinner." Kurenai said as she stood up.
There was a chorus of agreement as they all gathered their things before breaking off in different directions. Kagome said goodbye to everyone as she grabbed her bag and heading to the house she was staying at for the night. She was spending the night at Shikaku's house because Minato was out on a mission. She had spent the previous night at Inoichi's but then he got called out on a mission as well. Her brother was scheduled to be back sometime the next afternoon so she had elected Shikaku as her next babysitter. Honestly, she still didn't understand why she was allowed to go out on extremely dangerous missions that could very well kill her, but she couldn't stay home by herself yet. Minato's logic just did not make sense to her at times. Whatever, she guessed she really didn't mind anymore. She got to spend some time with her old friends who she didn't get to see as much lately.
She had helped Shikaku with the deer herd at the crack of dawn before she headed out to training, which she had enjoyed a lot. It had been months since she had been able to help out with the deer and she found herself actually missing them. The head buck had stuck to her like glue the whole time which Shikaku had chuckled at. She had to finish that up quicker than she would have liked so she'd get to her training with Jiraiya on time.
She took her time walking back as she was enjoying the little moment of peace. She hadn't gotten many of these moments the past six months and she had taken to make sure she enjoyed them when she could. She was nearly back to the Nara district when she felt something cold touch the side of her arm. She startled slightly before looking down. To her surprise, she found a wolf who was probably in its teens trying to get her attention. It had a dark grey back with a white stomach. She immediately knew that it was an Inuzuka companion, but what bothered her was she didn't see any Inuzuka clan members around. Kagome frowned in concern as she looked around, what was the wolf doing by itself?
Kagome squatted down, which wasn't really necessary as the dog was now taller than her. She looked for a collar or nametag but didn't see anything, not that she was surprised. If this was an active nin-dog then they wouldn't have any identification. To her amusement the wolf licked her face in greeting, she let out a small giggle and started petting him.
"What are you doing out by yourself, hmm?" she asked him softly. She knew that most animals wouldn't be afraid to approach her as her aura would instantly calm them.
He let out a small whine and butted his head against her shoulder in response.
She let out a small sigh as she glanced at the Nara gate that was only a few steps away, well it looks like she'll be getting back a bit later than originally thought. She stood back up and ran her hand through the wolf's fur, "Alright then. Let's get you back to your district shall we boy?"
The wolf gave a happy bark as he rubbed himself against her.
Kagome found it a bit hard to walk as the wolf kept wanting to step just in front of her. She didn't mind it too much, the wolf seemed to be enjoying himself. She let out a small giggle when the wolf actually managed to trip her but immediately caught her before she hit the ground. That's when she realized that the wolf wanted to play with her and a full-blown laugh escaped her. While she might have spent a good amount of time Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku she had never really spent much time around the actual wolves of his pack. She hadn't known just how playful wolves could be.
"Alright, you're on." Kagome grinned down at him. He gave a bark of excitement. Kagome giggled before jumping over him and taking off at a jog. The wolf immediately tried to catch up to her barking out happily. It turned into a mixture of a race and tag and civilians practically jumped out of their way. Before she knew it, she was in front of the Inuzuka clan gates.
Kagome crossed over just seconds before the wolf and she collapsed to the ground in complete giggles, "I win." She laughed out happily. Her new wolf friend gave a small playful whine. Before leaning down to lick her in the face happily.
"Excuse me, can we help you?" one of the male Inuzuka's asked her cautiously.
Kagome escaped from under the wolf before standing up, "Oh, sorry. Um, I found this wolf all alone on my way home. I recognized him as a nin-companion and figured I'd bring him back to you guys. I'm not sure who he belongs to, but I think he was lost." She said politely. She hasn't interacted with any Inuzuka so she wasn't really sure how strict or friendly they usually are.
It turned out that she didn't need to worry as the Inuzuka's wary look turned welcoming, "Ah, thanks, kid. That wolf belongs to Tsume, but I'm not sure what Kuromaru was doing out on his own. To get to Tsume's house follow this path here and take the third left. Her house is at the end of the road. She should be back from her meeting by now, but if she isn't just let Kuromaru back into her house. We usually keep our homes unlocked. If she isn't home let me know on your way back out, she'll want to thank you for bringing back her partner."
Kagome nodded an agreement before starting to follow the man's directions. She peacefully walked through the Inuzuka district looking around her new environment. She really liked this district; it was very homey and lively. There were kids laughing and running around happily and there were dogs absolutely everywhere. She imagined that this was what the Namikaze district would have been like if all of them hadn't died off. Well, minus all of the dogs probably.
When she got to the directed house, she knew somebody was home as there were lights on in the windows. Kagome knocked on the door and waited patiently. Moments later the door was whipped open and a tough-looking woman stood there, "Yeah?" she asked in a slightly irritated tone. She looked like she was around Inoichi's age, maybe a bit younger
"Um, are you Tsume Inuzuka?"
"Who wants to know?"
"I think I found your partner out near the markets just now." She said before stepping aside to show the wolf that had been trying his best to hide behind her.
"Kuromaru! Where in the hell did you wander off to? I was worried about you." Tsume barked out. She pointed into the house, "Get in there."
Kuromaru licked Kagome's arm in parting before quickly darting inside.
Tsume let out a sigh as she ran her hand through her hair, "Sorry if he caused you any trouble. He's never run off like this before. I've been having to go to a lot more clan meetings lately, so he's probably been feeling restless. Thanks for bringing him back home."
Kagome shook her head, "He was no problem, had a bit of fun on the way here actually. I think he just wanted someone to play with. Animals tend to like me. I really didn't mind bringing him back, honest."
Tsume looked the kid over with a critical eye. Kuromaru didn't really like anyone other than herself so the fact that her partner willing went up to this kid and played with her shook her a bit. She easily narrowed in on the headband tied around her throat. The kid must be something special to graduate at her age. There were only a few prodigies that graduate before the normal age of twelve. The kid was short, like really short. She could already see muscles forming which meant the kid took good care of herself. She had long black hair that she had tied back in a tight French braid so it would be out of her way. There was an unwritten rule about being a kunoichi. You didn't grow your hair out unless you were good enough that your opponent couldn't use it against you. Longer hair was easier to grab in a fight after all. The same went for shinobi as well, but most men didn't tend to grow their hair long enough for that to be a problem. From the way the kid held herself Tsume could tell the kid wasn't a lightweight. This kid took being a kunoichi seriously, unlike most kunoichi the past few years.
"What's your name kid?" Tsume asked after a brief silence.
Kagome's eyes widened, "I am so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Kagome Namikaze. I really should be going through; I was expected back a while ago. It was nice to meet you Inuzuka-san. Bye." Kagome walked away with a wave and smile. Shikaku was probably wondering where she was and heaven forbid, she makes him get off the couch to look for her.
Tsume watched her disappear down the road, a considering look on her face. So that was Minato's little sister, she had actually heard a lot about the kid. She'd never got a description of her though. It was nice to put a face to the name. The kid had graduated about eight months ago but was already doing Jonin level missions. She had gone on a few missions with Minato and he loved to gush about his little sister's achievements. She wondered what else the kid would achieve. As she entered back into her house, she remembered that this year's chunin exams were coming up, would Jiraiya enter her into them or no?