'Come on…' Kagome grimaced and shifted slightly in front of the cell's door, her wrist twisting ever so slightly against the edge of the lock. Tossing her hair from her eyes, she rolled her shoulders back and pressed the side of her head against the bar to better see what she was doing, twisting both hands with a soft growl and sagging slightly when she heard the noise she needed. She had never expected the four pins to give her as hard of a time as they had.

Sparing the bent bobby pin in her fingers a glance she tossed it over her shoulder and shoved the door open before stepping out of her prison. She squinted in the dim lighting, eyeballing the door longingly before turning for the other cells, she had to make sure… "Sensei?" the whisper bounced around the walls just as softly, her breath held as she waited for a response.

"Tóga?" she licked her lips nervously, eyes darting around to catch a glimpse of him to ease the growing sense of dread. "Tóga!"

The continued silence brought tears to her eyes, shaking her head and turning back for the door as she rubbed her eyes, there was no time for that now. Exhaling sharply, she gave herself a final moment of peace before opening the door and glanced around the area. The expansive grounds of Ryūkotsei's land greeted her with the main house laid before her, making her way forward as she clenched her jaw, attempting to keep the eerie thoughts from her head about what could be waiting for her.

The first door opened silently, her breath held as she slipped inside and moved forward, rolling her shoulders back as she neared a door. She should have high-tailed it as fast as she could back to Konoha for backup but, she had to see for herself if what Ryūkotsei had said was true.

"Takemaru was picked up by the Leaf shinobi, my lord."

'Good,' Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, that was one less problem to deal with.

"I'm tiring of that damned village."

Kagome's eyes widened as she stepped back, retreating down the hall and turning a different corner; without her chakra she was useless if he caught her now. The thought stopped her dead in her tracks, yanking her sleeves up to see the faint outlines as she narrowed her eyes at them, the faint sound of footsteps making their way closer and grabbing her attention.

Swallowing hard, she launched herself at the guard, arm wrapping around his throat and forcing him to his knees as she applied more pressure. Her fingers dug into her own wrist to help pull against the man, giving a final yank that resulted in a loud crack before she relented on her grip and pulled him to the door leading outside, rolling him from the porch and jumping beside him to shove him under the wooden structure. Standing straight, she kicked his leg fully under and climbed back up the porch.

'Still no weapons,' she tried the opposite hall she originally took, rubbing her arms above her sleeves. 'And chakra is gone… I'm on my own…' she stopped and held the tip of her tongue between her teeth, "but I'm not weak."

She turned and started back for the room she heard Ryūkotsei in, rubbing her arms absently before lifting a hand to her hair and pulling another bobby pin free from under her scrunchie. The spot throbbed lightly from the continued pressure the small clip applied to her scalp, releasing a shaking exhale and lifting her hand as she narrowed her eyes and taking aim. Without the use of her chakra it wasn't going to do much damage but it was worth a shot she supposed.

"Man, why's Kagome always doing this?" Inuyasha grumbled, "always gotta get saved."

"She doesn't," Sesshōmaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "she's reckless and may as well go back to the Academy, Genin act more responsibly than she does when she decides to take a mission."

Kakashi glanced up from the papers in front of him, his eye drifting between the brothers before moving to the path ahead of them. He could see the stairs to Ryūkotsei's castle, cutting his eye back to the younger Tashio. "She doesn't always need saving."

"Keh," Inuyasha's golden eyes glinted between his bangs, "just because you share her bed now doesn't mean anything to me; Kagome goes on missions now and all of a sudden she's getting in more trouble than she used to. I ain't saving her anymore."

"Her circumstances—"

"Her circumstances don't mean shit to me," Inuyasha snapped, turning his attention to his brother. "Tatsuo's a pain in the ass besides, she's going to lose two daughters on top of her husband because she's more concerned about that stupid necklace than her family's lives."

"You forget your place, brother."

Kakashi arched a brow as they seemed to forget he was there, brushing his hand against the pocket that housed the necklace in question, "am I allowed to ask about this necklace?" he tilted his head in thought, hoping he looked more offended than he felt, "and I don't share her bed in that sense."

"Not yet."

"Inuyasha," Sesshōmaru growled with a glare, "then do it for father if you won't do this for Kagome."

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it; I'm here aren't I?" He dropped his head to watch the path in front of them before lifting it lightly and falling back to fall in step with Kakashi, "about the necklace though… that's Kagome's choice to tell you or not… we're just the guards to the guardian."

"Who's a guardian?"

Three sets of eyes widened as the men whirled, blinking at the grinning orange clad boy in front of them. "Naruto?"

Naruto giggled and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed at finally coming out of hiding before he wanted to. "Yeah, I was listening outside the Old Man's door and I thought I'd tag along… you said one-on-one training and we'd get some ramen so I'm speeding up the process."

"He's your student," Sesshōmaru sighed, fingers delving into his silver tresses.

"Gutsy kid," Inuyasha smirked, "definitely hangs out with Kagome too much."

"Go home Naruto," Kakashi agreed with the younger brother softly, she may still be as outspoken as ever but Kagome had lost some of her fire, not all of it but she had tamed considerably from the little girl that punched him for calling her an improper shinobi. "We'll do it tomorrow."

"But, I'm already here."

"Eh, let the kid stay." Inuyasha shrugged and jerked his head to the stairs, "we don't have much farther."

"Then you keep your eyes on him," Sesshōmaru commanded.

Kakashi shook his head and rubbed his forehead, "stay close and stay quiet. We don't know what we're dealing with yet."

"You got it!" Naruto flounced ahead, pleased with himself for coercing his way into the trio, "can we still get ramen after this?"

"As long as you do what you're told."

The blonde spun to walk backwards, making Kakashi wonder if he adapted the mannerism from Kagome or vice versa. "Naruto—"

"You promised."

"Then we will go but, you need—"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be quiet."

Sesshōmaru frowned and arched a brow at the blonde, "none of my team would ever do this."

Naruto's face mimicked his as he righted himself, pointing a finger at the elder Tashio as he climbed a few stairs ahead to stand in front of them. "You did Souta dirty, he deserves jōnin."

Inuyasha snorted and clasped a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, if he wasn't so amused he might feel bad for him. Sesshōmaru's lips twitched up slightly, watching blue eyes spark in slight fear at the image, "does he now?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright." He breezed past the kyuubi, "I'll speak with the Hokage upon our return."

"Wait, what?"

Kakashi cleared his throat and caught Sesshōmaru's eye, "what's Kagome the guardian of?"

"Not now, Hatake." Sesshōmaru commanded lightly, he may have been his subordinate once upon a time in ANBU but they were equals now. He met Kakashi's slight glare with his own, turning back to the stairs as they finished the climb in silence.

"Something's wrong," Inuyasha stated almost immediately as he glanced around, hand falling on the sword at his hip, "where is everyone?"

Kakashi moved slightly in front of Naruto, his eye scanning the area before moving forward for the door. 'I should have sent him home.' "This isn't suspicious."

"Ryūkotsei has always been shady," Sesshōmaru mumbled, following behind Naruto to keep him sandwiched between the adults. 'Kagome and father better be alive…' he sighed angrily, it wasn't Kagome's fault, if she knew the extent about the jewel's supposed power or not, but damn he had thought she'd outgrown her reckless tendencies.

"You must leave."

The party turned to the voice, Naruto making a noise at the blood dripping from the wound on the guard's arm. "We just need a quick audience with your lord."

"I'm afraid he's indisposed at the moment—"

"Who fucked you up?" Inuyasha questioned with narrowed eyes.

The guard looked at his wound, "we had a problem with a few trespassers… now please—"

"We're just looking for our commrades, what's the rush?" Naruto stepped from behind Sesshōmaru, "we'll be fast."

"I said not now, you brat."

"Hospitality isn't your strong suit is it?" Kakashi tilted his head.

The guard clenched his teeth and shifted, mouth opening and snapping shut as he glanced to his left and bowed, "my lord… these shinobi were just—"

"Leaf shinobi are always welcome," Ryūkotsei delivered a pained smile, the gesture not reaching his eyes as he looked over the group and froze. "Tōga's sons…"

"Where's the old man?" Inuyasha hissed.

"I—I have not seen your father in years—"

Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms, "you run into a door or something? That's a nasty black eye."

"A failed training session, nothing more."

Glances of disbelief danced between the men, Kakashi lifting his forehead protector and watching the color drain from the lord's face. "Forgive us, we don't quite believe you."

"My lord?"

Ryūkotsei's chest rose and fell heavily as he debated his next move, between Tōga's sons and Kakashi of the Sharingan that was more than he bargained for… 'all for Kagome Higurashi?' "How about a trade? Your father and the girl for a pretty bauble?"

"So they are here?" Naruto shot forward, hands fisting at his sides before being yanked back by Sesshōmaru, "hand them over!"

"You promised, Naruto." Kakashi growled the reminder, now wasn't the time for his normal antics. He turned his angered gaze to the pensive lord, "we don't negotiate."

"No, I don't suppose you would," the lord looked in thought before grabbing his guard and whirling, using him as a shield for the shuriken to hit.

Kagome appeared then, dodging the body tossed her way with blood splattered over her clothing and hair unbound as she managed a kick to his chest and sent him sprawling to his back. "Fire Sty—" her fingers shot rigid, dropping to her knee and clawing at her arms to stop the burning sensation.

"Kagome!"

"Stay there!" she snapped angrily, turning her glare to each of them as she stood. Naruto's striken look at her sharp tone made her freeze, too focused on her objective to question his presence in the moment. "I'm fine."

"You're attacking a lord," Inuyasha frowned and started forward, "that's treason—"

"No boy," Tōga limped down the hall from behind, slamming into the wall and sinking to the ground. "He was behind everything," he waved a stack of papers in the air slightly, "including planning an attack on the Leaf…" he exhaled shakily and tilted his head back, turning to catch Kagome's eye between the cluster of legs that separated them. "We've worn out our welcome."

Kagome's shoulders tensed, brow furrowing from her crouched position as she turned her head slowly to the man in front of her. Ryūkotsei gave her the decency of looking genuinely frightened, his arm held in front of him as a barrier shaking under her stare before lowering when she looked away. Tōga's soft voice filled with hidden pain drifted through her mind as she forced herself to break from the rage in her belly, finding him barely clinging to life after escaping Ryūkotsei's meeting room had made her more emotional than she intended, drifting between anger, rage and terror that he wasn't going to survive. She had forced herself to work through the pain of the chakra bindings on her arm to heal his worst wound before fighting off the guards that found them. "Yes, sensei."

"You have no objections, my lord." Sesshōmaru glared from beside his father, straightening the papers his father clenched in his fists.

Ryūkotsei clenched his jaw and shoved to his feet, his pride stinging from the battering the girl had managed to deliver to him and his guards. "No…" he licked the cut on his lip and spit the blood at the kunoichi's feet, satisfied when she struggled to her feet, "you're both lucky… I was looking forward to a pair of executions."

Naruto darted around Kakashi and Inuyasha, fist aiming for the man's face with a growl of his own, "I'm going to wipe that smug smirk off your face you bas—"

Kagome grunted and caught him on unstable feet, shoving him back into Kakashi's chest. She wasn't going to allow himself to become wanted by the 'elite' outside of their village, he was going to be facing enough of his own problems if he ever managed to tap into the nine-tails' power, "we're finished here… it's the Hokage's problem now." Her vision blurred suddenly, groping for the wall and falling against it, 'shit.' She was showing weakness in front of her enemy… she shook her head, falling over her own feet as she moved forward to fall against Inuyasha.

"You're bleeding," Naruto's eyes widened as his voice drifted away, Ryūkotsei's laugh drowning out Naruto's voice as it danced around in her head as her eyes closed.

"Kakashi!"

'Don't save me,' she sighed as her knees buckled, wind caressing her face gently.