You Can Reclaim Your Crown

Summary: No one paid her much attention, Naruto's landlady, this woman who paid visits to the Uchiha compound with baskets of bread and fruit for the little Uchiha survivor. The woman who sat down to dinner with the Nine Tails Jinchuriki...who had befriended the silent Itachi, the impassive Kakashi...and had enraptured the hearts of Kushina and Minato...no one paid her any attention, until she's forced to act as a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village once again.

Pairing: Kagome/?

Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Naruto

Genre: Romance/Spiritual/Adventure

Rated: M

(AGES)

Kagome – 31

Kakashi – 26

Itachi – 18

Temari – 15

Kankuro – 14

Neji, Tenten, Lee – 13

Rookie Nine and Gaara – 12

-x-x-x-

Kagome smiled to herself as she held her door open for all her guests. The three youngest had been kidnapped for the most part, with Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto following of their own volition. "Sakura, could you help me in the kitchen?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sakura followed her as Sasuke closed the door of her home.

"Can I help too?"

Kagome turned to the youngest female, "absolutely, what's your names?"

"I'm Moegi!"

"-and I'm Udon!"

"Together we are part of the Konohamaru team!"

"You three are already in a team?" Kagome smiled, "how impressive,"

She blushed, "not a Genin team like Naruto's, but...we do everything together..."

"That's good though, having friends that you can go to when you need help, or just to goof off with...it helps you get through the daily grind that makes you a Shinobi." She walked into the kitchen with the girls and opened her fridge to reveal an assortment of chilled fresh fruit that needed to be cut.

"Oh wow!" Moegi peered into the fridge, "there's so much!"

"Yeah..." Kagome sighed, "everyone was away on missions...I might have to add the academy as a place to bring fruit and veggies if only to get rid of some of these." Smiling as she pulled out a large wooden tray that was parted into a whole bunch of sections, she laid it out on the counter and the girls figured out how they would be helping as they started washing, peeling and cutting apples, grapes, strawberries and blueberries. "I'm thinking of planting a fruit tree..."

"Like oranges or pears?" Sakura asked.

"Oh!"

Kagome smiled, "you have a preference, Moegi?"

"Mm... Konohamaru likes pears..." she blushed, her cheeks glowing as she ducked her head and continued picking the grapes off the stem they were clustered on and placing them gently on the tray.

"I'll see if I can find one...some of our neighboring villages flourish with their fruits and vegetables, so it shouldn't be hard." She sliced a peeled apple in eight and laid them out on the tray.

They finished placing the fruits on the tray and cleaned up before they carried them out where Sasuke was talking to Naruto about the guys they had just encountered. Udon and Konohamaru were laughing in a corner next to Kagome's bookcase and she curiously wondered what it was they'd discovered.

"Hey Boss! Look, it's you!"

Kagome smiled, "oh...I remember that."

Naruto pulled his eyes away from Sasuke and their conversation and looked at a photo of him that had been sitting on Kagome's bookshelf. "...oh!" He laughed, "I couldn't remember what it was from." He laughed.

The photo was of a six-year-old Naruto holding a large watermelon above his head from where he was sitting covered in dirt from helping Kagome garden that day. Kagome walked over and ran her fingers over a thin spine photo album. "You wanna see a picture of Naruto and Sasuke before they were friends?"

Two heads snapped up in confusion as the others ran over to Kagome in excitement. Sakura had been the first one to gush and squeal, but it was followed by the cute awes and laughs of the three kids around Kagome. Finally, too curious to curious not to look, Sasuke and Naruto stood up and walked over to see what picture she had of them from before they were friends.

Sasuke was in a sitting position, chubby baby legs barely crossed as he stared down at the sleeping Naruto who was a little smaller than him, laying right beside the curious Uchiha. "...what?"

"Mm... Sasuke's mom...was really good friends with Naruto's parents...so...when Naruto's parents passed away, Naruto stayed a few weeks with Sasuke's family while we mended the village. That's when this picture was taken...but neither of you would remember that." She smiled at the two and watched Naruto reach for the photo album. Her eyes widened and she snapped it shut, grinning at the frown on his face as she placed it back up on her shelf. "You guys should go eat the snack we prepared, Moegi and Sakura helped me set them up, and Sasuke and Naruto helped me grow them. Please enjoy~" She walked back into her kitchen and pulled a basket from her pantry. Filling it with an assortment of the fresh fruits, she smiled and placed it on the counter for when she left later.

-x-x-x-

(Four Hours Later)

Kakashi sighed, standing in front of the memorial stone as he did. He stared at the names from his past and let his mind wander for what he was sure was the millionth time since their deaths. A crackle and crunch of leaves alerted him to the arrival of someone...two someone's. He turned back and looked to see curious obsidian and blue eyes staring at him in silence, but as their eyes wandered to the memorial stone behind him, they chose not to ask questions. Instead, they gave two silent bows and continued towards the direction of the Training Grounds, since both Naruto's and Sasuke's home were nowhere near the Memorial site.

"..." turning back to the memorial, another pair of blue eyes came to mind and a familiar aching feeling hit him hard in the gut. 'Sensei...are you watching him? Kagome's doing such a great job raising them, without raising them...you would be proud of her. I know that both you and Kushina would be proud of Naruto...keep watching over him. I have a feeling that there is so much more to come...and he's going to take leaps and bounds on his way to his dream. Ah...that's right, you know his dream too...right?' Kakashi chuckled, a crinkle at his eyes showed that he was smiling through unshed tears, 'Thinks he'll be the next Hokage...this is your son.' He looked up at the sky and noticed it was starting to grow a bit dark, 'I'll see you both tomorrow; I'll have to notify my team of the Chuunin Exams, so I'm sure it'll be a long day of...trials. We can talk after.'

A few moments later, and the forest was once again empty. In place where Kakashi was moments ago standing, a couple bright green leaves floated lightly to the forest floor before resting there before the large stone of fallen Heroes.

-x-x-x-

Kagome looked between Genma and Sarutobi who had both stolen a fruit from her basket of fruits. Glad that she'd over-packed it, she turned her eyes to Sarutobi again who laughed.

"It's going to be the Inn across from the Hospital."

She grinned, "thank you." She bowed and left his office before making a straight beeline to the Inn. Her eyes darting over new faces and headbands, she stopped for a moment and her eyes took in how many unsavory Nin were wandering the peaceful streets of Konoha. The feelings of distrust were high as she watched the Konohagakura civilians eye their many guests suspiciously. 'It really doesn't matter...what world I'm in. Lady Kaede's village...was like this when I first arrived from my time...not just hers.' She smiled at the memories, 'I should...take a walk and revisit my past sometime...' turning, she jumped up onto a rooftop and past a silver haired nin as she continued her trek to the Inn. Smiling as she saw the balcony screen door opened and Kankuro was looking out at the market street and civilians. "People watching?" she called, smiling when his eyes turned to her and his cheeks did the funniest thing by turning a bright shade of red as he turned quickly away from her and walked back inside. "...that wasn't very nice..."

She made her way inside and, since she ran her own compound, she knew exactly what room the sand trio were in, so she went to the second floor and walk down the hall till the fifth door before letting her knuckles rap against the hard oak door. She smiled when the blonde opened the door. "In apology for Naruto and his teams' earlier trouble," she held the basket out to her and grinned.

"...is it poisoned?"

Kagome blinked curiously, "is that really something you have to think about when you come into an Allied Nation? You are from Suna...you are allies of Fire...and of Leaf...why would I..." she watched as a hand took the basket handle and lifted it from her hold.

-x-x-x-

"Why are you being so kind to outsiders? We are familiar with customs of allied nations, but I don't believe complimentary gift baskets are among those customs." Temari said as she eyed Kankuro who'd taken the basket from her.

"Why not?" Kagome frowned, "I'm not technically a born and raised civilian of Konoha. The customs I'm familiar with, are different from those of Konohagakura. I'm as much an outsider as you, and I'm pretty certain the Hokage trusts me just as much as he does any other outsider, if not less than."

"...what village do you hail from?" Temari questioned curiously, "you look like you were quite comfortable here earlier."

"I'm sure you've never heard of it," she smiled. "However, I'm from a place called Japan."

She was right, she hadn't ever heard of the place, "must be a small village..."

Kagome smiled, but said nothing in concerns to size, she glanced to Gaara who was staring at her, and Temari watched as she lifted a hand and waved at her youngest brother. "Have a good rest of the night. I only came to bring the fruit."

"...thank you." Temari finally said, "I realize that you didn't need to do this, so thank you."

"Mmhm, oh, and I hope your hand is feeling better!" Kagome said before bowing and leaving.

Temari turned back inside and shut the door. Glancing up to see Kankuro holding his hand and blushing, Temari sighed and put both her hands on her hips. "Oh...great. Just what we need...could you not fall for a Civilian of the Leaf Village..." she bent down to the basket and eyed the fruit, checking it over, no discoloration, or strange scents...

An apple was levitated from the basket with familiar sand, and Kankuro, who had ignored Temari's comment to him, watched curiously as Gaara took the apple in hand and bit into the red fruit. Sometimes, without seeing it for themselves, they forgot he did the basic things like eat, drink...breathe... Kankuro frowned, 'guess he is human after all...'

-x-x-x-

Me: Here is chapter 17, and I'll be updating chapter 18 soon. I hope you all enjoy, let me know what you think!