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

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Kagome yawned, "remind me what we're waiting on?"

"...a certain Academy Instructor who thinks he still gets to tell me what my team can and can't do."

Smiling, she shook her head, "don't be like that, Kakashi. Iruka is just worried. After that debacle with the Scroll so many months ago...and he cares a lot about Naruto too...it's not just him stepping on toes. I was upset too..."

He glanced down at Kagome and pulled her in closer to him, "you were upset because I sent them off to take part in the Chuunin Exam after they only just got back."

Shrugging, she pulled away a little and turned just before Iruka phased behind them. "Lovely night, right Iruka?"

The guise of the Rain nin fell and Iruka bowed to Kagome who was smiling at him from next to Kakashi. Kakashi had dropped his arm, his back still facing away from Iruka.

"Well?"

"They...passed. They did great, and... not just your team, but all nine Genin proved themselves ready for the exam."

"You are satisfied then?" Kagome grinned, "have some faith, Iruka. They were your students, surely you must know...that the Academy only teaches you so much...life can't be experienced at a desk..."

"...yes...you're right, but..." he shook his head, "no, you're right. I should just see what happens from now on..."

Kagome sighed and leaned her head on Kakashi's shoulder, "that's what I have to do. It's not so bad though...I get to watch them grow in such a beautiful way. Now...every time Kakashi brings them back from a mission now...I expect to see them stronger and wiser than before they left in the first place."

"So, this is what it feels like to have the impossible thrust upon you."

Iruka smiled, "I apologize Kakashi," he sighed, "I'll see you guys tomorrow or sometime during the exam." He vanished in the familiar swirl of leaves.

Kakashi brought his arm up to Kagome and relaxed a bit when she curled against him. He could feel someone's eyes on them, but couldn't for the life of him, see who it was that was watching them. Hell, maybe he was just being paranoid with all these random groups in the village, but...he was sure of it. "Should we head back?"

She shook her head, "stay with me like this a bit longer...mm... unless, you don't plan to leave my place tonight."

Eyes widening, Kakashi lifted Kagome and was off to her compound. 'No... I'm not leaving your place tonight Kagome.' This was what he thought as he ran to the compound, but...upon arrival, he found Naruto sleeping on her bed with an album laying open beneath his arms. "Why am I not the least bit surprised. You know...that he's here, that means his place is empty...or mine."

She smiled and shook her head, crouching down beside her bed and reaching her hand across the way. Her fingers trailed through Naruto's soft wild blonde locks and tears started burning in her eyes for what wouldn't be the last time. He was so young still, but he was working so hard towards his dreams. She grabbed the album and pulled it out from under his arms. Smiling, the picture he'd been looking at, was one of her and her friends in the past.

"When was this?"

"...I was fifteen..."

"You really haven't changed," Kakashi sighed, "I'll be an old man, you'll still be looking like a girl who eludes time."

She smiled, 'time does elude me though. Since I came to this world, I crossed the bridge where time cannot touch me, until the day a new Guardian is born or I make a wish on the Shikon Jewel...but it's no longer responsive...so most likely waiting for a new guardian is the only way I'll age.' She ran her fingers over InuYasha, Shippou, tears falling as they lingered on the fox kit. Her shoulders shaking as she heard the echoed laugh or a little boy from her memory. A hand pulled her from her memories, and she turned into Kakashi's shoulder as he held her as she cried.

If his past was a secret...Kagome's was a forgotten fable. No one knew anything about her past, and the stories that he heard were all made up tales that had changed so much from the day she was brought to Konoha by Minato, to the current day.

Tale's that ranged from her running away from a dark past, a shrine where she was a maiden, and brought down chaos on her sisters only to flee and start over...yeah, that was one they'd quickly eradicated. He also heard that she'd lost her memory and her way...since she never got it back, she just stayed in Konoha. No one really had an explanation for her blood drenched clothes that day, many said it was from her wounds in a bandit ambush and she'd been barely able to escape. A story that had changed so many times...and he would never know more than anyone else about her...well... "who are they?" He asked, knowing he'd most likely only receive her silence.

"...my best friend...my brother...my sister...my son..."

'...son?' He let that last one set in and frowned, but he couldn't bring himself to ask about how she had a son and was only fifteen. He'd seen many things in his life, and he was sure that there were many more in life that he hadn't seen.

"I know what you're thinking," she chuckled, "he was adopted into our group...this little fox demon whose mother and father had been killed, I wanted to watch over him and take care of him. Later, he started to call me mom...and I realized that, over time...I had begun to see him as a son, the way he saw me as a mother."

"Is that how you see Naruto?"

"Naruto...is like my baby brother...but then, there are times that I feel like a fretting mother...I'm, whatever the moment calls for, I guess."

"Hm..."

"I'm going to call it a night, Kakashi...you have to be up early too."

Kakashi nodded, feeling something akin to jealousy towards Naruto as Kagome stood and stretched from beside the bed. He stood up and turned her around as he pulled his mask down, pressing his body fully against hers as he kissed her, his eyes closed as he relished in the feel of her hands coming up around his back. He couldn't help pressing into the kiss, his tongue ebbing against her lips and gaining the entrance that he sought. From there, he had kind of forgotten about Naruto and lifted Kagome into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist as he pressed her to her wall. She pulled back and his lips found her neck.

"K-Kakashi...stop...Naruto."

His eyes narrowed and he bit down on her neck a bit harder than he'd intended, causing her to cry out a bit in shock. He smirked, kissing her one last time before he placed her down gently on the ground and sighed. Lifting his mask over his lips once more, he glared at Naruto, "I'll show myself out."

Kagome raised a brow at the glare he'd sent Naruto and smiled as he left her apartment. Shaking her head, she grabbed a change of clothes and made her way to the shower. She was happy that Kakashi wanted her, blushing a bit, she sighed, 'I just wish he didn't feel the need to compete with Naruto and Sasuke...I mean...Naruto wasn't even awake, and Sasuke...I swear, I'm taking care of three kids.'

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Naruto woke up the next morning in a warm embrace and couldn't bring himself to move away from it. His sleepy eyes blinking a bit as he took in the raven hair that was splayed around his landlady's shoulders. She was sleeping still, one arm buried under her pillow, the other holding him close in a hug. He had come to her place yesterday, as always...the door was unlocked for him and Sasuke. Looking at that photo album, he wasn't stupid, and had noticed the missing photos immediately, but he couldn't fault her. After staring at the photos that were made available to him, he'd laid down, dead tired from training with Sasuke...and had fallen asleep before he knew it. This wasn't a normal occurrence for him or Sasuke. They slept over at her house, all the time...yes... but they usually had a sleeping mat. Bringing a hand up to Kagome's long bangs, he moved them out of her face and a painful realization struck him. 'Haku...I couldn't even think straight when you asked me...if there was someone, in my life that I would die for...' Sitting up carefully, he made sure that he didn't wake her and smiled thankfully down at her. "You may never know how much you mean to me, but you are the closest person to a mom I have...and I love you so much...I would die if it meant protecting you."

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Me: Here is chapter 18, I want to at least get to chapter 20 tonight, so I'll start on chapter 19 right away. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I wanted Naruto's feelings to finally be out concerning his thoughts for Kagome, and while she may not be aware of it yet...he is. Review and tell me what you guys think~