9 years ago

Itachi finished securing his bracers to his arm, double checking the strap of his ANBU vest and rolling his shoulders back to check the feel of it. When he was satisfied at its placement he reached for the bag in his locker and shut the door. His normally stoic face softened briefly as he glimpsed the boxes in the bag before turning, nodding to Kakashi as he moved past him to the door.

"Haven't we done enough questioning?" The Uchiha heir murmured, his tone conveying the annoyance he felt with the situation.

"We're finished when the Hokage is satisfied. Sanyo and Miroku didn't have much to say, he's hoping otherwise for Tōga-sensei and Kagome." As if taking notice of the bag in Itachi's hand for the first time he pointed at it and arched a brow, "feeding the unit?"

"Mother wanted to come but she's busy at home, I told her I'd convey her sympathies on the attack."

Kakashi grunted and shoved his hand into his pocket, the pair moving wordlessly through the village before arriving at the pair of houses. He didn't know much about the attack, just that the team had been ambushed and it wasn't good, he had fought the urge to seek the Higurashi girl out at the hospital when the topic came up in a meeting with the Hokage, his face pale and grave as he relayed what he knew. Why he thought it was an ANBU problem he didn't know, hoping to get his own answers when put on assignment with Itachi to question the team.

"But they're alive," his brows ticked, remembering the girl in her youth when she attempted to convey sympathies she didn't share with her father over the loss of his.

Itachi delivered a dry look before starting forward, it was no secret how the copy ninja felt about the Higurashi family. "Shall we split or take both together?" He would ignore the true statement for now, knowing eventually it would be talked about.

"Might as well take them together, perhaps one of us will catch something the other missed." Kakashi started forward and knocked, glancing at the slightly shorter boy beside him as the door peeled open.

Familiar brown eyes that stopped his breath appeared, ringed in pain

"Yes?" Tatsuo Higurashi glanced between them with a raised brow, a bandage roll hanging from her fingertips.

"We're here on behalf of the Hokage," Itachi explained easily, tearing his gaze from the roll to the matriarch with an unwavering stare. "About—"

"I have an idea," she snapped quickly, stepping to the side to allow them entrance as she moved through the house. "There is nothing that hasn't been said that the Hokage doesn't already know."

The stench of blood and antiseptic filled the air as they rounded the corner into a room, the two ANBU frozen in the doorway as Tatsuo knelt beside the makeshift cot and laid the back of her hand against Kagome's forehead, her bandaged body on display.

The girls head rolled into her mother's hand, shuddering under the blanket, "is time?"

"Soon." Her mother tugged the blanket higher and stood, fixing the bandage roll beside her head and standing, taking the bowl beside the bed and jerking her head to the men to follow. "In case it's clear to you, nothing has been brought to our attention aside from the injuries. Tōga is adamant that he arrived too late, the attacker fleeing before he could distinguish any features."

"And what do you think?" Kakashi questioned softly, the image burned in his brain as he racked over a list of rogue ninja that could have inflicted the damage and had a reason to leave them alive.

Tatsuo froze a moment as she bustled them to the door, turning with an unreadable expression before it darkened, "I think the Hokage will be disappointed that there is no information to be given, that it was an attack that could have happened to any shinobi walking on that path." She opened the door and titled her head to the door to signal the end of their meeting, "thank you both for stopping by."

Itachi stepped forward slowly, holding the bag of prepared food. "From my mother," he explained carefully, "she apologizes not being able to be here herself."

The Higurashi matriarch took the offered bag, "now please leave."

Present

Tatsuo stood in the doorway of Kagome's office, watching her daughter pouring over the charts as her free hand drummed anxiously on her desk and her pen wiggled in the air. "Have you eaten today?"

Kagome's fingers stopped; pen poised in the air as she dragged her eyes up in question, "what?"

"Take a break, eat something."

Placing the pen to the chart that wasn't getting finished, Kagome placed her hands beside the papers and climbed to her feet with a noisy exhale before moving forward. "I have an appointment—"

"You finished your last one two hours ago. You've been sitting in here since your last appointment, staring at that same sheet."

Kagome rubbed her forehead, trekking back to her desk to claim the charts to bring home in attempt to finish them, "sorry."

"You've been distracted the last few days," Tatsuo gave her an appraising stare, waiting to see if Kagome would elaborate. "Something you want to talk about?"

Kagome pursed her lips in thought, lifting her eyes when her mother brushed against her arm to get her attention. "What?"

"Kagome—"

"Sorry, I'm out of it…" she waved off her mother's concern raking her hand through her hair and tipping her head, "I'm just worried."

"I've noticed."

Kagome pulled to a stop outside of the hospital, head tilting in thought. "We weren't doing escort missions until we'd been—"

"Enough of this, Kagome." Tatsuo's voice hardened as she snipped at her daughter, "they wouldn't have been given clearance if the Hokage and Kakashi thought they weren't ready."

Kagome frowned and nodded; she knew her mother was right…

"Speaking of the Hatake boy," Tatsuo let a small smile play across her face as Kagome's head shot up, "you two are very cute together, your fathers would be so excited."

Kagome sputtered and flailed her arms, so much for secrecy… "How did you…"

"Sasuke and Naruto were very concerned." She titled her head, "he's grown into a good man… he reminds me of his father. I didn't think you two were ever going to get along after Sakumo died."

"I'm sorry how many people know about this?"

"I haven't heard any gossip so it must mot be too many."

'Great,' Kagome sighed and pursed her lips, "there's something I've meaning to ask and since we're already talking… It's been on my mind since last year…" at the nod of approval to keep talking, Kagome resumed walking, stealing a glance out of the corner of her eyes, "Naraku was looking for something that he thought Kikyō had and gave to me… any idea what he was talking about?"

For a moment she swore fear and apprehension flashed over her mother's usually stony face before it disappeared, turning slowly to regard Kagome as they slowed to a stop. "He did, did he?"

Kagome gave a slight nod, "it came up twice actually."

"I see."

"Should I disregard it or… is there something?"

Tatsuo lowered her eyes, for the first time allowing Kagome to see the impact the last decade had on the medic. "You were never supposed to find out," her eyes flicked back up, normal hardness back as her voice lowered, "come…"

Kagome complied nervously, following her mother home as she fought back a yawn. Who knew staring off into space most of the day was so draining? "Sit down," Tatsuo commanded walking inside, retreating deeper into the house and leaving her daughter in the entryway.

Shaking her head, Kagome kicked her shoes off and moved for her room, perching on the side of her bed and setting her papers beside her. 'I have to finish them tonight,' her attention turned to Tatsuo moving into the room, sitting beside her and holding a box out. "What's… what's in there?"

"What you asked for," she responded softly, "it came from your however many great-grandmother Midoriko, if you asked your grandfather, she created it."

Lifting the lid, Kagome awed softly at the glittering pearl and lifted it, "so pretty… what is it?"

"That is the Shikon no Tama."

"Am I supposed to know what that is?"

"Well, if you had paid any attention to your grandfather's stories…" she delivered a smirk to her pouting daughter, "apparently this trinket can give an enemy increased power. He used to say the guardians were passed through your father's side of the family."

Kagome dropped the bauble with a grunt, shutting the lid and set the box down, "and this was Kikyō's?"

"She inherited it after your father passed…" Tatsuo licked her lips and brushed her hair from her face, looking as though she wanted to say something else before shaking her head. "After your sister went missing—was killed—and the attack where your side was clawed out, I put it away to keep you from suffering the same fate."

"But it's a legend, it's not real?"

Tatsuo rubbed her hands together, "Banko had it when Sakumo brought him home, he begged Sakumo to leave him but he knew Banko had it and what it meant, they had been best friends and teammates for so long of course he knew. Kagome, if this falls into the wrong hands it means disaster."

"Right," resisting the urge to laugh Kagome shook her head. She didn't believe it when Kikyō was alive and she wasn't going to start now, "I'm going to finish these charts."

Flipping the lid open, Kagome lifted the pearl and waved it as she stood, crossing the room to place the box on a shelf in her closet. "I'll uh… totally keep this thing safe mom," she dropped it back into the box and pulled a spare blanket over it. "Don't worry about that."

Tatsuo sighed and shook her head, she hadn't expected any different reaction from Kagome, she resisted every one of their attempts to tell her the truth. "I'll make you some dinner."

"Leaf Hurricane."

A resounding 'oooh' echoed around Sango and Kagome as Kohaku went flying, sitting up dazzed and confused as he glanced around the area slowly.

"Poor kid," Kagome's face twisted at the wince Sango's brother struggled to his feet, "I can't believe they're sparring like real shinobi… it feels like yesterday they were constantly underfoot."

"Kind of miss those days," Sango smiled and gave a cheer when her brother finally regained his senses and ran to re-group, "I feel so torn, Kohaku's my brother but Tenten's my cousin and is kicking some serious ass…"

"Gai's a fantastic sensei," Kagome smirked and shrugged at the offended look, "and you did alright with her too."

"Thanks," Sango scoffed and shoved her with a laugh, "why's Gai keep looking at you funny?"

"For the same reason you keep giving me goofy smiles."

"He knows?"

"He's Kakashi's best friend, of course he does." Kagome waved at the man lightly, forcing a smile when he delivered a thumbs up and a wink with his cheerful smile. "Apparently mom knows too because of Sasuke and Naruto… which makes me think the entire village knows, which isn't good."

"Your mother knows? Oh no," Sango winced at the information, "but look on the bright side, if the whole village knew you would definitely know, I mean it's Kakashi of the Sharingan."

"That's the part that worries me."

Sango turned as her eyes softened, "I guess." Turning back to the sparring match at Kagome's sharp intake of breath, she watched Kaede barely dodge Neji and flip over his back flipping over herself to put distance between them. "You'd be a good jōnin instructor," she announced, testing the water on the topic.

Kagome laughed and tossed her head back, shoving Sango as though she had told the funniest joke she'd ever heard. Wiping away an imaginary tear, the kunoichi shook her hair from her face, "labor and delivery is enough for me."

"Yeah… um, speaking of labor and delivery…" Sango shuffled nervously at the conversation ahead of her, Kagome's brow climbing higher than she'd ever seen as she waited impatiently for her to continue. "You're my best friend and you were my doctor for so long…"

"Yeah."

"Miroku and I have been talking for a while, but I didn't want to bring anything up because it's a sensitive subject—"

"Sango."

Hazel eyes closed nervously, worrying her bottom lip, "Miroku and I were wondering… if it were possible for me to carry a baby because of my back issues and all."

"Oh… wow," Kagome's eyes widened, lowering to her friends flat stomach and back up, "I don't know… I'd have to look into some stuff, go over what your list visits have been like, talk to your new doctor..."

'They're going to have a baby,' her chest panged at the thought, torn between jealousy and happiness before shaking her head. "When I go in tonight I'll start looking."

"You don't have to—"

"Hey," Kagome settled her hand on Sango's arm comfortingly, smiling brightly as the jealousy diminished behind the happiness, "you're my best friend, I'm going to do everything I can for you guys."

"Thanks Kags." Relief washed over Sango, tossing her arms around Kagome's shoulders, "so um… humor me, is he handsome?"

Confusion filled Kagome's face at the question, hands resting comfortably on Sango's arms as she held her shoulders. A devilish look gleamed in the depths of her eye as a smirk crept across her face, taking advantage of Kagome's confusion, "Kakashi, is he handsome under the mask?"

"Oh my god, Sango!"

"Is he?" She pressed with a laugh, both women lost in their teasings to watch the sparring match. Sango inclined her head slightly, with all of the years Kagome teased her about Miroku she was enjoying her payback.

Kagome's nose wrinkled lightly, fighting to keep the smile off her face before nodding. "Yes, very."

"Yay!" Sango changed her grip to hold Kagome's face, turning her attention to the match with a smile. Kagome followed Sango's eyes, watching her siblings attempt to down one of Gai's students before the timer went off.

Shouts of irritation followed, begging for more time from both sides before Gai called it a draw. "Neji's not happy with that," Kagome determined from the boys glare.

"He'll be okay," Sango stated. "Hey, Team Sesshōmaru against Team 7?"

"No!" Kagome stepped back and titled her head, "Team Sesshōmaru would wipe the floor with them."

"Probably," Sango relented slowly. They watched as the team in question regrouped, talking amongst themselves to determine where they went wrong and where their improvements needed to be made. "When do they come back anyway?"

Kagome shot a look at her and turned, the pair making from the field and to their favorite eatery. "It was supposed to be an escort mission to the Land of Waves… a week and a half?"

"It's closing in," Sango murmured. She watched the worry creep into Kagome's eyes and linked their arms, her friend hadn't been the same since the attack nine years ago, none of them had, but she had withdrawn so far from shinobi life it worried her. 'She used to be the best out of us, those dragons proved it...' she smiled at Kagome's glance, "I'm sure they're fine."