Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. The only thing I own is the plot.
Beta: Michelle T.
Chapter 7: Kunoichi and Miko
It was around the end of December that Temari received the mission scroll with her name inscribed on the metal plate of its seal cartridge. Her name, and her's alone. No Kankuro, no Gaara, not even that of her jounin teacher. Baki was with her when she opened the seal with a spike of her chakra, took out the scroll, unfurled and read it. The name caught her attention immediately, and with it, she could already surmise, without having to read through the entire thing, what it would entail.
This name, she thought to herself as she finger the paper in her hands, had been the talk of the entire village for most of the last year. Only if Temari had been living under a rock deep in some far-flung outpost, would she not have known it by now. The name of the miko was all but pinned onto everyone's tongue these days… almost literally, considering what they had been eating.
"It's A-rank," she commented, turning to the patiently waiting Baki who nodded. A Suna A-rank mission more or less amounted to a borderline S-rank in other villages, such as their neighbor Konohagakure. This was fact, not a boast. Because of the inherent high cost of producing and maintaining a single Suna nin, most clients and even their own daimyo patron tended to export low level missions to other cheaper villages. The only territory in which the Suna nins could prove that their skills are worth every Ryou of their rate was the higher tiers of ninja services: the long term, complicated assignments that would see their agents missing for years from their home, the risky missions that other villages, flushed with revenue from short and easy B and C pickoffs weren't particularly inclined to accept. Their mission ranking system was adjusted as a direct result of this tendency.
"There's no danger to speak of. The miko has no combat capability whatsoever, and, as far we have seen, is heavily disinclined towards harming so much as a weed, let alone a person, but..." Baki explained.
"But it's important right? Father can't do it, and you can't do it. Others aren't trustworthy enough, so it can only be me. And it's long term," Temari continued where he left off. She rolled the scroll shut. Long term was a heavy understatement. This particular mission had no end date. It was indefinite, and it would go on for as long as the objectives needed to be maintained. It was worthy of its ranking alright.
Temari's mission, as explained in short, succinct words in the scroll, was to approach the Miko, befriend her and bond her to Sunagakure. Temari was far from the first person to be charged with such a task. Hers was simply the continuation of what her father and a select few Kunoichi who comprised of the Miko's bodyguard team had already begun. A slow, gradual fostering of loyalty and affection that would endure.
Baki nodded with a look of satisfaction on his face. "She has shown a great deal of trust in Lord Kazekage, but…"
"... but dad is a still a middle-aged man and the Miko is still a teenage girl. And there are limits as to how close he can get and how much he can make her open up, am I right?"
"You've got it," said Baki slowly. "For this mission, you will have the assistance of the Miko's protection squad and its chief. Your assignment starts in three days. I will be available should you wish to discuss the particulars."
That Baki managed to say this with a perfectly even voice was proof of his control over himself, because Temari knew, without a doubt, that he was as unsettled as her by this assignment. Baki was a perfectionist, and this kind of missions, often called Lipstick and Cat Claws by both kunoichi and shinobi, was the worst matchup for him. Her dear teacher was a combat type through and through. The mission, on the other hand, required pure interpersonal expertises. She would bet that given the opportunity, Baki would rather take on a highly risky S-rank seek and destroy mission deep in enemy's territory rather than having to endure the inane twists and turns of a B-rank entice and make-nice mission.
Temari herself was little better than her Jounin teacher. She too would rather cave in an enemy's head with her battle fan than spring open a puny paper one and sprout poetries at some unlucky nobody. If she had to be honest, Temari would say that she was an altogether bad choice for this assignment, being both too lacking in terms of social skills and possessing a decidedly abrasive personality… and—at only around 14 years old—was three years short of being a contemporary proper of the 17 year old Miko.
For this mission, a kunoichi of no more than 18 years old but no less than 16—specifically trained in the subtle arts of charms, seduction, and social etiquettes. Since Suna was one among the great five ninja villages, there were no lack of such kunoichi within their walls. Yet none of those kunoichi were the Kazekage's daughter, and thus could not be trusted to be among one of the anchors that bound the Miko to their village. So to Temari, the mission went.
"For this task, Lord Kazekage can trust only you, Temari. It is an honor," said Baki, rather needlessly if she had anything to say about it. She merely nodded and asked to go home to prepare.
When she was alone in her room, she opened the cartridge to its last compartment and out came a little booklet. She picked it off her bed, opened it. It was a briefer pack on the Miko.
A face stared up at her from the first page. A mugshot taken when the Miko was first 'discovered' and registered proper into the system. She had a startlingly pretty face, Temari noted, even with that sloppily shorn off hair and the exhausted look in her eyes. Her skin held the dark, muddy tan of those who worked regularly under the sun and Temari detected the hint of malnourishment in the bony edge of the Miko's cheekbones.
This photo would be more than half a year old by now.
On the right of the photo was the name. The script was alien to her, the first hint of the Miko's foreign origin. They looked like the traditional kanji, except they weren't. Then next to it, was the phonetic translation of the name.
Kagome, Higurashi.
The name in the warped kanji was crossed over and the phonetic translation one underlined in red. 'Official record' said the note next to it.
Of course, thought Temari, dad wouldn't want everyone to know her true name, in case someone outside of Suna recognize the origin and attempt a claim of relation. This little book here then contained all the information in its virgin state. Temari had no doubt a vetted version had been released into various documents to cement the Miko's Suna citizenship and official persona to anyone caring to look.
Beneath the names were several lines of miscellaneous data typically found in personal documentations.
Birth place: blank (Official record: West 5 District, Sunagakure, Kaze no Kuni)
Birthday: June 28, blank year (Official record: June 28th, 3xxx)
Age: 17 at time of discovery (Official record: 17, ward of state)
Parentage: blank (Official record: war orphan of listed extinct Higurashi clan, Sunagakure)
Blood type: O (With a note of some yet undiscerned irregularities found in her antigen set)
The numbers listing the Miko's height, weight, and sizes painted the picture of a very petite girl in Temari's mind. A civilian with not a lot of muscle mass to her already diminutive height. Temari, at only 14, was already taller than her by an inch.
The next page listed detailed recorded instances of the Miko's kekkei genkai. Aside from a couple of weird footnotes, it had nothing that Temari did not already know or guess. After all, it would be hard to miss the belt of trees growing in the front of the village. On the official records however, the ability was listed as a new type of 'Hiden'.
Clever, thought Temari.
If the ability were listed as a kekkei genkai, a rival village wanting to deny Suna their boon would need only take out the current single bloodline bearer to end the line once and for all. But Hiden were secret techniques that could be taught to other disciples, so simply taking out the original creator would not necessarily put an end to the technique itself. She had no doubt a competent ninja would question every bit of information he or she got from the official channel, but all this misinformation was bound to trip up quite a few of them for a long while yet.
In the middle of the booklet were copies of what appeared to be the Miko's attempts at writing the common tongue. Scrutinizing the atrocious penmanship, Temari realized she was looking at written exercises. Someone, quite possibly her father, had set the Miko to writing out paragraphs introducing herself and her… country… in their language, a subtle but highly effective way to innocuously extract information without having to ask too many questions.
'My name is...' read the first line. The name was again written in the alien script and above it, the phonetic translation in red ink note. It was her father's handwriting.
'I came from...' another alien word. The translation read 'Tokeeoh' in the place of city and 'Zha-Paan' in the place of country.
'It is an...'Ayseean '...country, surrounded by the...' Pah-Cee-Fic '... ocean. In the North is the…' Ah-Zhee-Ah '...continent, and in the South is...' Os-Tray-Lee-Ah '...
She really is from a completely different place, Temari realized with a jolt. This script, these names and terms and places she had never heard of—and Temari was no ignorant civilian girl who could claim to know no better. Unbidden, she thought of the rumors the rank and file shinobi and kunoichi whispered about, that the Miko was in truth a desert spirit given human form and that was why she could not speak the universal tongue. Before this, such whispering had sounded like superstitious nonsense to Temari, but now that she had seen evidence of the Miko's otherworldly origin and found no other logical answers, she floundered to dismiss the idea outright.
But thinking such thoughts now served no purpose, so Temari forged on ahead and turned the next page, carefully reading the sloppily written lines. The very next part turned out to be a personal introduction.
'I am a...' Meekoh '… priestess? What kind of priestess was a Miko? And how did one qualify to become one? Temari read on, hoping for an in-depth explanation of the Miko's power and training only to find no such easy pickings.
'I live in a shrine, with my mother, my brother and my grandfather.' No mentioning of a father, huh? But other than that, this was looking pretty tame so far. Temari hadn't really come into this with too many expectations but… the Miko's otherworldly abilities and origin had created assumptions of a far more… extraordinary home life. This, on the other hand, was verging on boring, and it had absolutely no mentionings of any sort of priestly training whatsoever. Temari covered her mouth as she took a big yawn.
'I have a cat. His name is Buyou. I go to school at...' It went on for several paragraphs, describing the details of what seemed a perfectly mundane life. Until the last sentence...
'On my fifteenth birthday...'
And then it stopped, there, the statement hanging. Beneath that was her father's note in red ink.
'She asked for a change of subject, would not specify why.'
So something happened then. Something that connected the perfectly ordinary and powerless fifteen year old civilian girl then and the priestess they had now. A blossoming of her power perhaps? Was it one in her bloodline and was that why she was living in a shrine in the first place? Temari made a note before forging on.
The couple of pages left were observations on personality type, behaviors and habits. The information was written in psychological dissection of the many observed instances of her behaviour: her initial rejection of the Homeless Center Director's request, her interactions with the orphans and members of the Center. It was all very dry stuff filled with technical jargon that worked little in painting an accurate mental picture of the Miko in Temari's mind. Closing the booklet and putting it back into the sealed cartridge, Temari thought hard on how to approach the mission.
She felt woefully underprepared. This was not something she could shake her battle fan at, and despite having read the booklet from cover to cover, she still felt like she didn't know her target at all.
What kind of a person was the Miko? Temari needed the full-bodied opinions of those who had known and worked with the Miko, not dry technical jargons that belonged in a head doctor's textbook.
Well, decided Temari finally, if she felt she didn't know enough about her target, then there was only one way about it. To find out more herself. It was probably expected of her anyhow.
Drawing a pen and a piece of paper from her table, Temari wrote a short and succinct request to rendezvous with Oren, the chief of the Miko's protection squad. Then she opened the window of her room, put her thumb and forefinger into her mouth and with a sharp whistle, summoned the family carrier eagle. She tied the piece of parchment to the bird's foot, then brought her hand up in a sharp motion, launch the eagle into flight.
"And… off you go."
The next morning saw Temari sitting in the corner seat at the central market ninja cafe. On her table she kept a pitcher of iced lemon tea and her notebook. The reply note from Oren had been more than accommodating. Instead of just meeting the chief, Temari would be talking one-on-one to all members of the squad for a complete perspective. The kunoichi had even sent back a timed roster and suggested safe locations.
Around nine, the first kunoichi came in. She had long black hair, and instead of the usual Sand kunoichi garb, was dressed in a simple white cotton dress and yellow plastic sandals. They talked briefly and quietly under the protective dome of a privacy seal, Temari fielding her questions and taking notes in coded scripts.
"She's kind," said the first kunoichi to the question of 'What is the Miko like?'
Kind… was not a word Temari often heard associated with a person within her household. Strong, capable and determined to do whatever it took for the good of the village were the more popular descriptive terms by far, so even as she noted down the Kunoichi's answer, she didn't quite know what to make of it.
"She likes oden and sweets," said the second Kunoichi. That might be useful for something.
"She prefers either a flirty, short skirt or very formal vaguely priestly garbs in white and red," declared the third. "I wonder what kind of home culture breeds such schizophrenic fashion sense."
"She can't sing," stated the fourth with a nod and a smile. "... cannnnn't sing."
By the sixth Kunoichi, Temari was getting the impression that her mission would be firmly cemented in the bubblegum and frilly dresses territory. Then, in walked the chief of the squad, Oren herself.
In person, she was a slight woman of the same variety as the other six. Long dark hair, leanly petite frame, fair skin despite the constantly burning sun. Dressed as she was, even fellow ninja might write her off as soft and harmless, except for a subtle glint in her eyes, which held the hardness of fire-forged steel.
Oren, if Temari was not wrong, had served in Sand's very own version of ANBU corps for two years before going back to normal tokubetsu jounin duty. An assassin and past member of the cloth binder corps, she was the kind of kunoichi Temari aspired to be.
"You don't look too happy, Temari-san," she commented as she sat down across from Temari.
"I'm not sure I'm the right choice for this mission," Temari admitted with a frown. She hadn't been sure when she took the cartridge bearing the missive from Baki, and now, after having talked to six kunoichi who constantly guarded the Miko, had become even less sure of her father's choice.
"Why is that?"
"I'm not a civilian. I don't have any civilian friends or know of any around my age on speaking terms. I don't… I don't know how to befriend one to begin with, and that is my mission isn't it?" It rankled to say that out loud, but Oren had been nothing but helpful, and eventually, as Temari's liaison, she was liable to have a say in whether Temari was a good fit for the assignment or not. Better get this out before either of them committed more of themselves to what might end up a fruitless endeavour.
In response, Oren regarded her for a moment before smiling.
"Then it's a good thing that Miko-sama is not a civilian."
…What?!
Temari's expression must have done the asking for her, because Oren followed up with another statement.
"There are scars on her body."
Temari frowned. But that could have come from accidents. Scars weren't exclusive to ninja alone.
"The one on her hip reaches deep into the bone. Star shape," Oren continued, well aware of the argument in Temari's head before she even voiced it. "Around this big," she held up one hand, fingers splayed wide. Temari eyed her hand. That was a big scar. The shape was also unusual.
"The medical corp are still perplexed as to what could have caused such a strange scar to begin with," Oren poured herself a glass from the iced tea pitcher, drank it. "She has some claw marks on one shoulder and what looks like the teeth mark of some great war beasts on one bicep. These aren't marks a shrine-dwelling civilian could get by being clumsy, Temari. These are battle scars. Our Miko has seen combat, and survived."
Oren held up a hand, index finger pointing out, other fingers wound closed. "She has a callus here, on her right hand, around the base."
"That's a strange place for a callus."
"You get it if you do a lot of archery and favor your right hand," said Oren. "Archers use their index finger to nock and shoot."
Temari went quiet, running the new information through her head, then jotted them down into her notebook.
"How come the other six said nothing of this?" she asked finally when she was done with the notes. Just from talking to the six previous kunoichi, she had been building a completely different idea in her head.
"Their perspectives are just as valid as mine," said Oren. "They are just… young. I'm a little older than the norm age." And so she saw things that her younger teammates missed, went the unspoken statement. The kunoichi that made up the squad were all around sixteen to eighteen. Oren, the single exception to this rule, was well past twenty-two despite her appearance. Temari supposed this was but one more reason why she was the chief.
"Ok, you've convinced me. The Miko is not a civilian. What kind of a person is she then?"
At her question, Oren paused. A look of consideration crossed her face. She brought up her glass and took another gulp before settling it down on the table.
"In a place of trained killers and warriors, it is easy to mistake kindness for weakness, compassion for foolish naivety. Miko-sama is kind to everyone… but herself."
"... what do you mean?"
Instead of explaining herself however, Oren simply went on. "There's no need for you to worry about how to befriend her. Chances are, she'll be the one to befriend you. There's no need to overthink things."
"You can't know that for sure…"
"Oh I do," said Oren, "Imagine if you are stranded in a completely foreign land and could barely speak a word of the local language yourself. Imagine being helpless and poor and with no friends to count on. Imagine being isolated and cut off and ignorant about the world around you. It's simply human instinct to reach out to anyone within range. Even if…" she paused there for a second. "... even if you know the hands reaching back may not be without ulterior motives of their own. Even then, it's just human instinct to willingly grasp onto those hands. The desire to be needed and included as part of a whole is firmly ingrained in us. Miko-sama is no exception."
"Your mission is simply a matter of finding a way to approach her naturally and stay within her circle of acquaintances. Familiarity breeds friendship over time. That you are a couple years younger than her is an advantage. Miko-sama adores children. Did you know it was because of the village orphans that we even found out about her power to begin with?"
So that rumor that the Miko was found in a dump was true!
Oren said with a smile, "To think, she could do all that since the beginning and more, but would not do it for herself and instead chose to live among the poorest of our people as an ordinary person… despite all that hardship, she would not use that power for her own gains. I do, at times, wonder the kind of teaching her home country imparts."
Temari went quiet for a minute as she went over what Oren had just said. She still felt like she didn't know enough about the Miko but at the same time, she was a little more confident that she would see this assignment through. Oren was very clearly quite capable at her job, and with her help, Temari couldn't perform all that badly, right?
"Alright, how will I approach her?" asked Temari.
Oren took another gulp of her iced tea before setting down the now empty glass. Pushing it aside, she then leaned in.
"Maharra, the new year's festival."
Ah! Temari perked up at the mention of Kaze no Kuni biggest festival. Without needing another word from Oren, she understood the older kunoichi's proposed plan of action. Maharra was without fail the single most important cultural and commercial festival that took place within Sunagakure. It transpired within a week, starting from the first day of the new year to the seventh day. Traditionally, the new year festival started with a sacred rite carried out by the reigning Kazekage and his immediate clan or family to the ruling class of village. The rite was then followed by a procession through the village.
"Kazekage-sama wants the Miko in the opening rite, I take it?" Out here, he was not dad. Out here, he was Kazekage-sama.
"That's right," said Oren.
It made a lot of sense really. Up until now, the Miko had been kept secluded and away from public eyes, her every movement shadowed by her guardians and herself discouraged from leaving the safe zone within the temple and the farm fields. This was to the benefit of both the Miko and the village. After all, before being taken in by father, she could speak no more than a handful of words and knew nothing of Sand culture and way of life. And while the village had unquestionably prospered since her power was put to use, Temari suspected none of them were quite ready for the social and cultural changes that were bound to come with her presence. To the majority of people in the village, Miko Kagome Higurashi was a near mythical being whose presence was felt but not seen.
But that would have to end at some point. The Miko would have to be integrated into their society proper. And what better way to do that but through their most important cultural event? Her appearance beside the Kazekage's family in such sacred rites would also cement her place as a ward of the state and the Kazekage.
"This year Maharra will be her official debut before all of Suna, and all of Kaze no Kuni," confirmed Oren.
"And I will be the one to teach her formal etiquettes and walk her through the rite, I take it?" And by doing so, would naturally have to stay by her side for an extended time.
"You've got it."
For as long as Temari remembered, there had always been a massive mesa behind the village, a plateau of vast flat plains that hung high above them, empty of everything but the dust and red stone that made up its form. For centuries, it had served as the village's natural defensive wall and training grounds for generations of Sand nin. That old mesa, it seemed, no longer existed.
Temari stood at the foot-end of the cliffs, at the coordinates given to her by Oren, waiting. As she waited, she held her head high and slanted up and glued her gaze to the cloud of green foliage that threatened to overflow the mesa cap and spilled down along the cliff walls. Leaves, and vines and ropes and roots that had dug deep into the face of the mesa only to emerge, writhing like snakes, from the vertical plane of the crags.
Within minutes, Oren appeared before her. She had on almost the same dress Temari had seen her in last and if not for her tightly bound hair and hanging position from the earthen walls, would not have appeared a kunoichi to anyone caring to look.
"Come," she beckoned Temari with one hand. "She's waiting."
They ran up the scarp, sprinting and jumping between the twisting roots of some deep-burrowing trees. When they got to the cap of the old mesa, Temari let out an involuntary gasp.
"You haven't been here lately?" asked Oren, who breezed past her. "It's called the Hanging Orchards now."
Her target being who she was, Temari had come expecting trees, a lot of trees. But this was a veritable jungle. Every inch of the old, barren mesa top was covered with plants of some kind. There were shrubs and brushes and bushes and exotic flowers beyond count. There were trees as far as her eyes could see, so densely planted that they hid the endless horizon of the mesa and the sandy country beyond it. From their heads sprung a leafy green canopies so thick it blotted out the burning desert sun. The air, cool and fresh as opposed to hot and dry, was suffused with the effervescent scent of sun-warmed wood, budding leaves and fresh tree sap. But most shocking of all was the grass.
There, right underneath the sole of Temari's sandal was a thick carpet of verdant green grass, their blades, at once sharp and pliant, poking through the gaps of her sandals and touching the skin of her toes. She stood staring at her feet for maybe a minute in silence, her mind reeling to take in the fact that the earth underneath was no longer the sandy, barren ground she had been born to and had known all her life. Ironically enough, it was this, the common grass, and not some grand trees, that finally made it sink in the kind of power the Miko had... and just how much she had changed Temari's home.
"Isn't access to this plateau restricted or something like that?" She asked finally, voice breathy with vestiges of shock and disbelief.
"By Lord Kazekage yes," said Oren. "There are many workers permitted entrance to this place however, and among them, most have young children who had never once seen a fruit-bearing tree… or a vine of flowers. Miko-sama delights in meeting them…"
There was a short pause which Temari filled in herself with the assumption that Oren and the kunoichi saw no harm in these uninvited visitors or else it would have been a different story.
"... lately she has been asking for stories from them, now that her grasp on our language is much better."
They passed by a clearing where strange wooden boxes the size of a small pony stood in rows. Temari did not ask, but the question must have been on her face all the same because the next thing Oren said was:
"Bee boxes, to make honey."
Temari paused for maybe a second, computing. "Honey? I didn't know we could make our own honey."
"That would be because the orphan children eat everything we made so far," said Oren with a smile. "In the beginning, the flower fields were just something she enjoyed."
They passed by the flower fields Oren mentioned then. They were vast plains filled with an ocean of flowers Temari could not put a name to. And dotted among this ocean were lone figures of men and women bending down with woven baskets behind their backs, diligently at work.
"Oren-sama." "Good day to you, Oren-sama." Some of them stood up straight as the pair of kunoichi passed by.
"Oren-sama, this is for Kagome-sama," said a woman as they passed her, holding up a wreath of blue and purple flowers. Temari thought the gift silly, for who would give flowers to a woman who could make an entire field bloom within mere minutes? But Oren took with a smile and a nod before resuming their conversation.
"Before long though, some of the farmers started putting forward ideas. After all, many of these flowers are medicinal and we could hardly call ourselves people of the desert if we let just about anything go to waste. Some wanted to harvest the pollens. Some wanted to create distillation workshops to turn them to oil. The bee farm is the slowest to grow since Miko-sama can't exactly make the bees anymore hard-working than they already are."
Temari was only paying half her attention to the woman. The other half was firmly ensconced in figuring out what she would do once she met the Miko for real, what she would say. What could she say really? Temari's thoughts swam in circles, tangling each others in their aimless wandering, spurred on by the thrumming of nervousness in her heart. Perhaps a greeting? Good day to you, I am so and so. Was that too formal? The Miko was only a teenage girl. Perhaps something a little more casual? Ho there! I been hearing your name around. I'm Temari and I think we are going to be seeing each others a whole lot more starting from now. Was that how the cool civilian kids did it? She wasn't really sure. But… could she really be so familiar on first meeting with the one who was powering the new economic surge of her entire village? What if she wasn't the touchy feely type and that greeting weirded her out? With this kind of missions, first impression counted for everything and now, a couple minutes away from meeting her for real, Temari was still scrambling to decide on how to make a good first impression. Aughh! She really would rather take a mission that required her to kick the tar out of some unlucky nobody than this. But there was no backing away now.
Past the blooming fields, they entered a grove of fruit trees. A footpath paved with cobble stone led deep into the heart of the grove, and there Temari saw her. The Miko.
She sat, perched like a bird, on the low hanging branch of an apple tree, her kunoichi guardians about her. Her hair had grown out since the mugshot and now it strewn down her back and shoulders in black rivulets. She was wearing the red and white formal kind of clothing the second Kunoichi mentioned. There were green stains on her hands and dirt on her feet. Her skin, Temari saw, had lost the scorched brown shade that came with too much desert sun and was now a warm, creamy ivory with the slightest hint of a fading tan. And there on her neck, the mark of Temari's father, was a gold collar.
Its presence alone stated clearly to any Suna nins and any who had heard of Sunagakure's gold wielding Kazekage.
This one is mine.
Clasped tight around the slender column of the Miko's neck, with tiny intricate whorls and loops, the opulent collar seemed unspeakably vulgar.
As they came into the center of the grove, she was plucking plump apples from the cradling arms of the apple tree and putting them into a woven basket in her hand. A slip of her long sleeve and Temari spotted the glint of another gold bangle, this one around her wrist, snugly tight. But now she was stopping, now she was turning towards them. Her blue eyes fastened onto Temari's face.
"Kagome-san, this here is Temari," Oren walked past her, addressing the Miko, one hand held out to gesture at the younger kunoichi. "And this is for you from Komi, again." Her other hand held up the flower wreath, prompting a nearby kunoichi to take it from her hand and tied it around a branch of the apple tree where the Miko sat.
For a moment, Temari stood and stared at her target, the Miko Kagome, thoughts running and jumping like little sand bugs in her head. This? This is the one? This is the one who is changing my entire world? This is the reason why I've rarely even seen dad home lately? The reason why Kankurou is getting subtle hints to prepare himself and Gaara is put under even stricter watch to keep him from ever crossing paths with her? This.. this…
Absolutely ordinary girl who was barely older than Temari herself. She was looking at Temari with curiosity and a shy eagerness about her. She had an exceptionally lovely face but other than that, nothing about her even hinted at the otherworldly power that had been revolutionizing Suna society in the last half a year. And what a scary thought that was, that something previously unimaginable and impossible to them could be nestled within this seemingly ordinary vessel. What a scary thought that was to wonder what else might be in there too.
Without any warning, the Miko leapt off her perch on the tree branch and landed softly on the ground, her bare pale feet sinking into the thick grass carpet. She stepped forward then, one hand still holding on to her half-full apple basket, and with a big, open smile, sent forth a butchered greeting in the common tongue.
"Good night! I'm Kagome. I heard… lots… about you."
The pronunciation was good but her grammar needed work, and then there was that vocabulary choice. The way she stumbled over the l and t reminded Temari of Kankuro around six years old and trying to twist his tongue around big words. Her big sister reflex flared and, without stopping to think it over, Temari blurted out while pointing at the sun through the leafy canopies above them.
"It's good morning, not night, doofus."
A split second later, she remembered herself and her mission. She slapped a hand over her mouth, staring at the flummoxed Miko with barely restrained panic. Shit! So much for a good first impression. But, perhaps she didn't hear that. Dad couldn't have taught her words like doofus right? Please, please, by the Sacred Wind, let it be that she didn't hear what Temari said just now!
But it seemed that wasn't to be, not with that flush spreading across the Miko's cheeks and all the way to her ears. The Miko looked down, one hand kneading the fabric of her long skirt, then up, her eyes alighted.
"Doofus, yes. Of course, it's morning. My bad. I can hear good now, but I still speak bad.. espe… espe… if… I'm nervous or… excited," she said, her voice empty of any hints of anger. Instead, her face was lighted with a sheepish smile, her hand reaching to scratch the back of her head in the typical embarrassed pose. "I spent… time… thinking how to greet people… you."
"I'm so sorry!" Temari scrambled to apologize, bowing deeply and frantically.
"Oh no, I'm not.. um... "
"Upset. You are not upset," Oren supplied helpfully. In the background, a murmured chorus of little laughs and sniggers courtesy of the observing kunoichi.
"Right! I'm not upset. What you say is.. is... true," She put her hand on Temari's shoulder and pulled her up, then smiled at her. There was… Temari fumbled to describe it… but… there was a sort of honesty about her. Instead of a priestess whose power had been supporting an entire village, she appeared more a farm girl from some off country where the hills were green and rolling, the people simple and stout hearted, and the local lords minor and deigned to mingle with their peasants. It was… surprisingly refreshing… and a little shocking.
She pulled at Temari again, her smile spreading wider into a grin that proved to be infectious as Temari felt the corner of her mouth twitched in response.
"I am Kagome and you are Temari. You teach me how to be proper in public."
"I.. well… yes, I will" Proper in public… what a way to put it. But in her limited tongue, Temari supposed it was as true as it could get.
"Then… it's good to meet you," she inclined her head. "I look forward to your help."
From the back, a kunoichi, the one who commented on the Miko's lack of singing ability, let out a giggle snort.
"Ooh, no stumble. Smooth, Kagome-sama!" she commented. "She practiced that line for an entire afternoon you know, Temari-san? Said it would be embarrassing to stumble when thanking others."
"I worked hard," said the Miko in agreement. She was flushing again but there was a triumphant look on her face.
Maybe… Temari thought tentatively as she straightened herself… maybe she could do this after all. Maybe Oren was right and she was only overthinking things. There was no need for all that pressure. Temari felt herself easing, slowly slipping away from the nervous anxiety that had balled and built up at the back of her mind for the better part of last week.
"It's good to meet you, too," Temari responded, and was surprised to find she really meant it. This friendship that she was set out to create… it didn't have to be fake or forced did it? A person like this Miko, this Kagome, she felt like she wouldn't mind having such a friend. Kagome, her name was Kagome. She hadn't noticed it when reading it out from the booklet but it was a nice name, a good name. Temari had no idea what it might mean in her original language but it rolled off the tongue quite , she wouldn't mind having a friend in Kagome at all.
Temari was so preoccupied with these thoughts that she almost missed the slight shift of Kagome's gaze to somewhere behind her. The sudden stiffening of Oren and the kunoichi however, she wouldn't have missed in a million years. Someone else had entered the heart grove. Someone that wasn't supposed to be here.
"Gaara-sama…" Oren spoke up from within the suddenly deathly quiet kunoichi crowd, her hands hanging by her thighs, fingers hovering over the handles of her hidden knives. "... what are you doing here?"
Gaara..!?
Temari snapped from shock, spinning around to where Kagome and the Kunoichi were directing their gaze, and there, standing at the place where the wooded footpath melted into the grassy carpet, stood her littlest brother. His eyes, framed by a shock of red hair made even more brilliant under the light of the morning desert sun, was fastened onto the Miko, a confused, agitated look on his face.
But this couldn't be. Gaara was supposed to be at the other end of the village right now and under the watch of not one but three squads of handlers. He shouldn't have been able to give all three of them the slip and sneaked into this place "Gaara!" Temari called out, meaning to demand the answers from him, but stopped. She had never been able to demand just about anything from Gaara when he didn't want it, and the Miko… Kagome, knew nothing about this. It would not do to scare her needlessly.
"Gaara-sama…" said Oren again, and this time, Temari could hear the edge coming slowly into her voice. At her back, two among the kunoichi had slipped silently into the trees. "... do not.. take.. another step."
End Chapter 7
1. I wanted to get to Gaara's part faster since his appearance marks the next phase of the story (where Kagome's ability to suppress the Biju makes an appearance) but also don't want to neglect Temari's character. Gaara may play a pivotal part in the plot but Temari is the eyes and mind through which we will all see Kagome from the Naruto-verse perspective. Yondaddy Kazekage's mind is a little too skewered up because of his own mentality to serve as an objective observer. Temari also serves as a way to showcase the complexity of Suna people's views regarding Kagome. Not all of them see her with the same awe, gratefulness and reverence mixture as shown in the last 2-3 chapters. Those who don't benefit much from her power, those whose stations and world views are shaken by her appearance, and even those of higher circles with a deeper understanding of kekkei genkai, will understandably see her quite differently compared to the normal Suna peasants whose lives have just been made a lot better by Kagome's grace.
2. Time table. I put up a time table in chapter 2-3 but made a mistake I think, so here's an updated one to keep track of everyone's age. Right now, in this chapter:
Kagome: 17 years old (at the end of canon Inuyasha, she just hit 16 years old if you want to know where we are compared to canon Inuyasha)
Temari: 14 years old, 3 years younger than Kagome (she's 15-16 years old around the Chunin exam in canon Naruto)
Kankuro: 13 years old, 4 years younger than Kagome (he's 14-15 around Chunin exam)
Gaara: 11 years old, 6 years younger than Kagome (he's 12-13 around Chunin exam)
Rasa/Kazekage: 39 years old, 22 years older than Kagome (he's 40 years old around Chunin exam time, also when he died in canon Naruto). I'm not going to promise that he won't also kick the bucket this time around despite the different circumstances.
From chapter 1 to this chapter 7, around 10 months have passed. Kagome first appeared at the gate of Sunagakure around February. She spent 2 months in obscurity before being found by the ninja. By April, she was taken into custody by Kazekage and by mid April, beginning of May, her power started effecting the village in full scale (this is around the time she started growing entire farm fields).
We are currently 1 year away from Chunin exam time, also the time when the other villages start showing interest in the 'catalyst' that has been creating radical changes in Suna but that's a long way away yet.
3. Looks like majority of readers prefer the canon name Rasa. So, from this chapter, Kazekage's name will be changed to the new canon one. I will gradually modify the previous chapters to keep his name the same and avoid disruption for the readers.
4. Next chapter: "Maiden and Chimera".
5. A fan asked me this question on my tumblr account Ask Sythe:
"In a crossover between your stories garden of the gods, book air, tis femina and cognates of heaven suppose the main characters dimensional trips switch destinations kagome lands in Mordor, ten tailed naruto wakes up in the northern water tribe, korra wakes up in the senju compound and hawke and her apostle allies arrive in suna. What happens to the characters and what effects to they have on there new homes in the long run?"
You can check the answer in my tumblr account. Warning, it has a little bit of spoiler material in it, but for the record, I love that question!
Also, I'm a little curious as to if anyone would like to read those stories (in compressed form) created by that question. So if you do, drop me a line in the review section and let me count how many say yay and how many say nay.
Enjoy yourself!
Sythe
