"Hey Sesshoumaru."

"Go away, I'm busy."

Souta's brow arched as he peered around the man's head, "busy playing shōgi by yourself?"

His mentor sighed and glared over his shoulder; the young teen accustomed to the look as he continued to stare with the small smile. "I'm meeting Shikaku later for a game, now leave."

"I want to be ANBU, how do I do that?"

Sesshoumaru stilled and turned, narrowed eyes turning to slits as he regarded the boy. "What?"

"I didn't know who else to ask, you were ANBU, how do I--"

The shōgi piece in Sesshoumaru's hand was slammed to the board, upsetting the remaining pieces as he stood. "Come." The command was harsh and left little room for argument, which Souta wasn't about to disobey, "where are we going?"

"Hush."

Souta's face twisted as he followed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He contemplated telling Sesshoumaru to lighten up but decided he rather liked his life, 'I wish Uncle Tōga didn't retire… he was a much better teacher.'

"Where is your sister?"

Head shooting up at the question, Souta eyed the silver curtain of Sesshoumaru's hair, watching it sway gently as he walked. "Kaede's with Kagome at the hospital, Sango wants a baby or something and their looking for a way to make it happen."

"That's foolish and idiotic, the woman is still too injured for a child and probably always will be."

"You're awful cheery today," Souta grumbled softly. He stiffened at Sesshoumaru's glare over his shoulder, eyes darting away from his to watch the people they passed.

"Tell me Souta, have you ever killed?"

"Well… no?"

"I see, do you think you can?" Sesshoumaru glanced around the street, pointing at a group of new academy students, "can you kill an enemy this young? Or a friend that's defected?"

"I… I don't—"

"If you say I don't know that's the wrong answer. Perhaps I'm wrong about you and you can be as ruthless as is necessary for the job as of now however, you would make a suitable Jōnin if you apply yourself."

Souta puffed his cheeks out and exhaled sharply, arms crossing and pursing his lips. "I don't want to just be a regular Jōnin, I want to do something."

"You'd be training the next generation, that may be the most important thing."

"Why didn't you ever train us like your father?"

Golden eyes swiveled to his, narrowing slightly with the question as his nostrils flared. "I taught you three to stay alive, to strategize and take out your enemies; I did my job."

"Yeah but—"

Sesshoumaru's eyes unfocused from the conversation, turning his head away from the teen and glancing around. "It's something to think about Souta, perhaps you'd consider bouncing your idea off your sister."

"Uh… she would kill me if I told her I want to join ANBU…"

"Than that alone is reason to change your path. Excuse me, I have a shōgi match to win now."

"Good luck!" In a blink he was left alone, the dust settling back to the ground from his sensei's departure. Rubbing the back of his head he trudged to the ramen shop, the back of Naruto's blonde head, settled between Sasuke and Sakura with the three of them ever so subtly turned to their sensei.

His eyes shot between the three and Kakashi, for Naruto to not even care if there was food in front of him was unheard of especially at the Ichiraku Shop. A sly smile filled his face, 'they want the mask.'

Shaking his head, he turned and stopped when Ayame called to him sweetly, the scent of a fresh bowl of ramen making his stomach rumble; he could have one bowl. "Hi, hey, thanks so much!"

He claimed the stool to Kakashi's left, breaking his chopsticks apart to settle fully in his seat. "What are you guys doing today?"

"Hanging out."

"Nothing."

"Just this."

Souta's eyes widened at the answers, noodles hanging from his mouth as he turned his gaze to Kakashi for clarification. The jōnin laughed lightly, he knew what was going through his teams mind, they weren't the first to attempt a look under his mask after all. "These three are treating me to lunch."

"That's generous," Souta leaned forward with a smirk, "treating me too Naruto? Froggy's still full right?"

"Yeah, yeah sure." Naruto's gaze barely left his sensei as he answered.

Rolling his eyes, Souta leaned back and shook his head. 'One track minds.' He vaguely heard

"Welcome, have a seat—"

"Thank you sir, but I'm in a hurry!" Kaede's face appeared between Souta and Kakashi, her eyes wide and out of breath, "Kagome's having it out with Yamanaka."

"No way."

"It's so bad," her hand fisted in Souta's shirt, "hurry up before it's over!"

"Right," Souta fumbled with his money and tossed it to the counter, sliding from the stool and darting to the genin, "Kags is a good way to go if you run out of ideas."

He smirked and straightened from his lowered position, rushing from the eatery with his twin.

"I'm telling you, if Sango gets pregnant it's going to reagitate the already agitated tissues that weren't able to heal properly. She gets pregnant and her back may not be able to support the extra weight." Kagome rubbed her forehead and tossed her hand up, talking to Yamanaka was a headache she hadn't prepared for.

"With all due respect Higurashi, I've been working with Sango for almost a year now and her body has improved so much since you left."

Kagome blinked and frowned, "are you—what are you implying? I've been her doctor for the last 7 years, I know her body, I've studied her charts more than I have anyone else's. Her body, as much as I want it to, cannot handle this."

Yamanaka smiled, a gesture Kagome took as condescending as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping, "it's okay to feel how you feel, I imagine anyone would in your situation."

The kunoichi's eye twitched in irrigation, her situation didn't have anything to do with her decision, even a new med-nin could tell it was a bad idea. "If she makes it to full term, labor would be even harder than if she were a healthy woman; the long term implications would be her barely being able to move because of the damage to her spine. How is that a life with a baby?"

"This conversation is finished, I'm recommending that she move forward with her plans, she'll be monitored closely and if something doesn't look right—"

"You terminate the pregnancy that you said she could go through with?"

"We put her on bed rest," Yamanaka hissed, "you're not her doctor any longer, you don't get a final say."

"I'm her friend and she asked me for my recommendation."

Yamanaka spun on his heel, white coat billowing behind him as he marched for the door, "no say Higurashi."

Tossing her hands up, Kagome flung herself into her chair, running her finger over her lower lip in thought. She dragged her eyes up to the open door with a glare, hearing Souta and Kaede scamper away when they met her eyes before dropping her gaze back to the desk with a weight of defeat heavy in her chest.

"Kagome?"

A sigh was Sango's answer as she appeared suddenly, a hopeful glow covering her face as she moved deeper into the room, "how'd it go?"

Kagome kept her eyes trained away from her friend, her finger continuing its motion across her lip before dropping her arm flush against the armrest, "I don't think it's a good idea."

"But Doctor Yamanaka said it would be okay, that I would be fine—"

"Yamanaka's an idiot," Kagome scoffed, "I've looked at your entire medical history more times than I've ever looked at them… the nerve damage that was done to your spine could become too severe to carry this baby safely to term. Sango, your spinal cord was injured in the initial attack that never got to heal properly—"

"I know that," Sango huffed and moved closer, leaning against the desk as she lowered herself to the chair, "but Kagome I feel good about this, I can do it."

Kagome flipped the folder open and turned the x-ray around, "you had severe vertebrae breaks that resulted in your spinal cord being compromised, I cannot—as much as I want to, for you—say that you getting pregnant would be a good thing."

Deflating slightly with the news Sango bit her lip and flipped the x-ray back at the kunoichi opposite her, "I know what I went through… but I think I'm going with Yamanaka on this."

"That's fine," Kagome huffed and felt the tension begin near her mouth, brows furrowing as she ducked her head and pulled a small notepad closer, "I'm recommending Hisako to be your OB through this—"

"I want you."

"I can't," Kagome snapped and inhaled deeply to calm herself, holding the paper out. "Because I'm against it, it's not a good idea… they'll schedule you when it happens after Yamanaka's confirmed your pregnancy."

Sango's eyes narrowed, snatching the paper from Kagome's fingers as she shot to her feet. Turning on her heel, she stormed from the room, door slamming behind her making Kagome jump and wince.

Dragging her hand over her face with a groan Kagome glanced at the clock and rocked to her feet, swinging her white coat over her shoulders. Her remaining hours at the hospital flew past, the occupation of her mind on her patients propelled her forward for the rest of the day, her shoulders dropping in exhaustion from the drama of the day as soon as she stepped out of the building.

She contemplated going to find Sango and Miroku to explain her reasoning now that she had calmed down but thought better of it. They needed a few days to process, not hours… her foot splashed a puddle as she walked, apologizing quickly to the body she collided with too lost in thought to pay attention properly.

"It's alright Kagome," Iruka laughed at her rambled apology, stopping abruptly at the look on her face, "you okay?"

"No, not really." She remarked tightly.

Iruka rubbed the back of his neck and nodded, they hadn't seen much of each other since Naruto graduated he realized quickly. "Want to talk about it?"

Kagome opened her mouth to respond and promptly shut it again before opening it slowly, "I don't know."

"How about some dinner? We can catch up a bit, I've got this trio in my class now that reminds me uneasily about Naruto."

At his chuckle she nodded with a smile, "I'd feel sorry for you but you attract them like flies."

"Konohamaru's exhausting," Iruka sighed.

Kagome laughed outright, Naruto had mentioned meeting the Third's grandson, "sounds like I should be treating you."

Iruka laughed, the pair falling into step as their banter continued, the anger melting from Kagome with every jab they took at the other.