Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. The only thing I own is the plot.

Beta: Michelle T., AstaraelDarkrahBlack

Chapter 10: What is a Miko?


When the Go-Ikenban once again gathered for the day, it was an hour to midnight and six hours from the incident at the Central Market Square. Once the dust and sand finally settled on the ruined Sun Yard, there were many places to check for residual dangers, and heads to count—Kagome's as well as the child she still held were the first two among them. When the Shadow of the Wind came for her on the sunlit field of the Central Market Square, she had not resisted his request for her to come with him, and now here she was, seated and waiting in an important looking chamber in an important looking building. The most important building in the village, in fact, if the intricately carved decor and the increased number of warriors guarding it were anything to go by.

Hours ticked by as she waited patiently for the aftermath of her showdown with the tanuki, until finally the door opened once again to admit a Sand warrior with half his face hidden under a veil that was attached to the turban he wore. The man was tall and brawny and the shape of the cloth on his head suggested that he was completely bald. He looked first not at her but at the boy asleep in her hold, a glint of something dark in his gaze. Kagome did not tense or say a word in response, but something must have shown in her demeanor for the sand warrior stilled and then stepped back, hands and pose softening.

"Miko-san," he said in a voice that betrayed nothing of what was going on in his mind. That he spoke so slowly was to her benefit. "The village elders are ready to see you." He gestured at the sleeping Gaara. "You can leave him with…"

Kagome stopped him before he could finish his sentence. "No. I go. He goes." She tightened her awkward hold on the boy as she stood up. It was difficult holding onto him while walking, as Gaara was no small child and Kagome was not even close to being a tall woman, but she was not letting go. She had seen the looks on the faces of the villagers and the warriors. The unconcealed fear, doubt, and uncertainty that was felt by everyone in the village. Hard experience had taught her more than once what might happen when people—even good, honest folks who knew nothing of war and bloodshed—were sufficiently frightened. Before she settled this with the rulers of the village, she was not letting this boy out of her sight, and if Sand-warrior-san had something to say about it, better he do it now.

The Sand warrior regarded her for a moment. If he was looking for weakness, he did not find it and after a brief pause, he held up both hands in surrender.

"Alright." He said, then turned around, opened the door with one hand, and led her through the long, twisting hallways. There were guards by the door as they exited the waiting room and at the sight of her they stiffened, and then as if having remembering their orders, they averted their gaze towards the floor. They reached their destination after five minutes, the hallway ending in a granite-lined door which lead to a great chamber. Standing in front of that door was the Shadow of the Wind Rasa-san himself.

He looked at her, at the boy in her arms, and then at the sand warrior in front of them. A silent and furious exchange took place between the two of them, the nuances too quick for Kagome to catch, though she could take a good guess at what the topic was about.

"Don't," she spoke up, breaking the oppressive silence and drawing the attention back to her. "Not... his fault. I asked for Gaara to stay… with me."

If Kagome had thought that the reigning chief of the village of the Sand People was cold and somewhat aloof in their first meeting over half a year ago, then this time the look that he gave her was freezing, the lines of his face were stiff, as if someone had taken his features and cast them in stone. He said not a word nor did he even react at all to her statement other than the redirection of his gaze towards her, but his displeasure was plain to see.

Perhaps if he had directed his ire at someone else, some other girl younger than her who had never gone through the harrowing circumstances that she had, he would have been able to cow her into submission, but Kagome had never been daunted by the icy disposition of anyone, be they Sand Warriors or a Dog Demon Lord. She pressed on despite the very clear warning in the bald sand warrior's eyes.

"Let him… come with me. We talk about him too, yes? And the… the… big ... dog. Your questions, I will answer them all… to my best. But only if he's with me."

There was no response from Rasa, only the unyielding cold hard stare, but two could play at this game. Kagome squared her jaw and answered his look with a challenge of her own. They might have kept at it for longer, had their impromptu staring match not been cut short as the door opened with a creak and out came another man with an impressive goatee on his chin.

"Lord Kazekage, is the Miko—oh…" he stopped abruptly as he spotted Kagome and the red-headed child with his head slumped on her shoulder. Directing an uncertain look at Rasa, he started, "Uhh…" and was stopped short.

"I will be but a moment, Goza," said the chief of the Sand people, momentarily breaking his gaze to look past Goza's shoulder and into the chamber where evidently someone was waiting for her to show up. There was a brief pause before—apparently having come to a decision—he turned back, extended a hand to her while his other pushed the door fully open.

"Come, Miko."

The chamber where she was to talk to the Go-Ikenban of the Sand People was enormous, the size of a great cavern if a such a place could hold so perfect a design, a grand paradigm constructed with a single purpose in mind which was to awe and humble all those who walked within it. Where all of the administrative rooms and buildings outside were made from stucco to ward off the heat and the sun. This chamber alone in the village was built entirely from sandstone and marble, their cool breath emanating from the walls, floors, and high domed ceiling above. There was light coming in from the windows, the light of a rising brass moon, and from the fluorescent lamps set in the walls. There were stone giants standing in the back, warriors with grim faces and imposing figures which Kagome estimated were maybe fifty feet tall, their expressions fixed in judgement or determination, the last of them bearing a striking resemblance to the man who had been her teacher and guardian for the last eight months. Above their heads was the single character for Wind in the Sand people script.

At the feet of these giants was a similarly enormous round table around which twelve men sat in waiting. They looked at her, their eyes heavy with consideration, scrutinizing her entire person. They all wore blank expressions, expertly masked with the aid of age and experience, their postures were rigid. They could not feel it themselves as they lacked the sense that she possessed, but the stench of their suspicion was unmistakable.

As Kagome approached the table, one of the twelve sprang up, the gesture so abrupt that it seemed to have surprised even the man himself. "Is…" his eyes went from the sleeping Gaara to Kagome and then to her unrestrained hands. Fear hung around him in dark shrouds "... is this… she's…she's not..."

"Ikanago!" snapped another member of the Council of the Sand People, this one looking significantly older and more grizzled than the stuttering Ikanago. "Have a little dignity. We are the Go-Ikenban of Sunagakure." Then the man turned towards her. "Take a seat, Miko." He demanded loudly, as if making an example to his colleagues. He gestured towards the single chair placed a couple steps away from the round table, clearly meant to be the seat of one who was about to be subjected to questioning.

Despite the man's demand, Kagome stood still beside the empty chair. Ikanago was not the only one whose fear and suspicion was so strong it seeped from him like oil leaking from an old barrel. They hid it well, but it was clear that what had happened this afternoon had forever shattered the image of her as the harmless, clueless, civilian girl. To be fair, she had just seemingly killed a creature which likely was the worst nightmare of the Sand People with barely any effort. She could either let it go on like this, simply sit down and answer their questions as she had promised, or…

Turning to Rasa, who had been standing beside her patiently and wordlessly, she adjusted her grip on the boy so that she could hold out a hand to him.

"Cut me," she said, to which he responded with a single raised eyebrow. "I am made… of… of… flesh," she explained, not to him but to the men watching her every gesture with scrutiny and intent. "If you cut me, I will bleed, like everyone else."

Hearing her explanation, Rasa complied without another word. The kunai came unseen from the sleeve of his robe. He held her hand high, palm up, so that the members further away could see it clearly, the pale tender flesh, stained green and brown with the grass and dirt of the orphanage new garden. With a flash of steel, so fast she almost couldn't catch it, he drew a bloody line in the palm of her hand. She gasped softly from the pain, watching the scarlet beads grow quickly in size, swell, become a stream that ran over the curve of her hand and down her bare arm. A bloody drop hit the immaculate marble floor. The soft ting it made was like the sound of glass shattering in the dead quiet of the chamber.

It felt as if an invisible pressure had lifted as those in the room started breathing again. In the far back, two men of the Go-Ikenban whispered furiously under their breath, emboldened by this turn of events.

"You have made your point, Miko," said Rasa quietly to her as he stemmed the blood still running down her arm and wrapped her palm in white cotton bandages. "Take your seat." She sat down in the chair which was made for someone of much bigger statue than her and arranged the sleeping Gaara so that he lay comfortably against her, then turned to face her waiting audience.

"Gentlemen," announced Rasa. "Shall we begin?"


Their first question was a rehash of an old one.

"Who are you, Miko? And where do you come from?"

"I am Kagome, Higurashi. I came from... a land far away."

"That is not an answer."

"You would not… know it. It is in… another… w… world… plane…"

She had decided to be completely honest with her answers. What was the point of dressing up the fact that her home was in another world entirely? These people could spit fire from their mouths and metal moved at their whims. What did she have to lose? She was never going back there again. There was a brief pause at her answer, but no one had yet objected to the absurdity of her claim. They were likely reminding themselves that the young woman who sat before them had thus far been full of surprises and impossibilities.

"... what are you?" The question was delivered lined with an edge of wariness from a man with a goatee who the Shadow of the Wind had called Goza. The very same wariness that the question which had escaped from Rasa in that first meeting between them had held. However, this time the man who first took her in and made her a citizen proper of this sandy country was as still as the statue made in his likeness. He felt blank, out of all the people she had met and seen through, there were always those like him, the ones who held themselves under such restraint that even her senses normally wouldn't be able to see what they were feeling. He was like that now, an impenetrable wall through which nothing was escaping. Sesshomaru had been the same up to the moment of his death. She had never quite decided if that was a good thing or a bad one, or if it was something that simply was.

"A Miko."

"What exactly is a Miko? You have said that it means priestess. But we have no such priestesses here." Now they were in new territory. When Rasa had asked this same question, she had never been able to give him a full answer with her pitiful grasp of the local language, until now.

Kagome considered her words carefully. "Miko…." The nature of Shintoism was that it had countless strains and local beliefs and was at times difficult to describe in full. It was the collective beliefs and myths and spiritual practices of the people of her nation and it had no unifying god to speak there of. It was more spirituality than a true religion. She had no words that would sum up what a Miko was in a single thought. But…

She brought up a hand, the one without the bandage on, and called upon her Miko ki. It came easily, eagerly, and it lit up her hand in a warm, pink glow as it arrived. It had never quite gone away even after the tanuki nearly bit the dust. The boy's chimeric soul was in turmoil and she found that having it around, lurking beneath her skin but never quite enough of the power to shed its distinctive glow, could do a world of good to someone whose soul was so maimed.

Immediately, the attention on her sharpened. The eyes of all the men in the room were fastened to her and her glowing hand, naked curiosity undisguised in them.

"What is that?" asked one of them, anticipation tinging his voice. "That is not chakra."

"Miko ki," she answered before letting the glow subside. "My home world, there are many… many… demons," the tension spiked as she said the word 'demon'. It was not a word Rasa had taught her, rather, she had learned it after having heard it dropped one too many times from the lips of frightened men and women and children when they talked about Gaara. She might not understand all the nuances of the word yet, but she could well guess what they meant by it. "Monsters that feed on humans. Mikos fight these demons and... protect the people."

Whatever the Go-Ikenban had in mind regarding the nature of the Shinto Miko, that probably had not been what they expected for she could feel the faint surprise coming from them.

"How many is many?"

"Many…beyond numbers." She held up fingers to demonstrate. Numbers were among the first taught to her in their nightly language classes. This would be the first time she made any significant use of that knowledge "Ten... twenty... a hundred... two hundred... a thousand... two thousands... ten thousands…" Kagome counted slowly. As she did so, the faces of some of the Go-Ikenban paled as the number went up and up, as high as she was taught, as far as she could remember. "... a hundred thousand…a million…"

"That cannot be…" exclaimed a man with a wrinkled, bare face beneath a turban. "You… that can't be!"

"Beyond counting," she repeated in the face of his disbelief. There really was no counting the demons and wicked spirits during the Sengoku Jidai, not while they bred and festered on the human suffering, corruption and death that ran rampant during that era. Kagome herself had seen more than one horde of demons numbering in the thousands. "Beyond numbers. Terrible monsters. Prey on humans days and nights. Flesh eaters. Soul eaters. Monsters who kill for sport. Some can wear the skin of their kill and… and walk among humans. Corr… corrupters."

When she saw that his disbelief was mirrored in many of the Go-Ikenban, she made a tentative offer. "I can… show you."

"Show us?"

"Yes," in the palm of her hand, Rasa's fuin remained. They still used it as an integral part of her learning process. Without it, she probably would not have even begun stringing so many sentences together. "This fuin transfers your thoughts into my mind, yes? Flip it," she made a flicking gesture with one hand. "Then I can show you mine." From the corner of her eyes, she shot Rasa a glance. "Just… the images."

Her only response was the dubious look on the Go-Ikenban faces. "Young lady," one of the men spoke up. "I'm afraid that's not how our fuin wor…." Before he could finish however, a voice cut him off halfway.

"She can do it," said the Shadow of the Wind matter of factly, drawing looks of surprise from his fellow villagers. "She has done it before. Baki," he continued as he motioned to the bald Sand Warrior who had escorted her from the antechamber to this meeting hall. At his gesture, the Sand Warrior retreated to beyond the door in search of something. "Let her do it."

His casual remark had sown the seed of disruption in his fellow councilmen. Whereas before, they more or less presented a unanimous front, now she could see, quite clearly, that while some took well to Rasa's suggestion, others did not feel the same, and they would not stay quiet about it.

"But, Lord Kazekage, we can't possibly allow her to... " Ikanago protested. "We don't know what she can do. This girl," he pointed at her with one finger, the gesture snappish. "who we know next to nothing about, just killed the Shukaku. She's talking of witchcraft and nonsense and you will allow her to root about in our minds with impunity?"

There were murmurs of agreement in the circle of men before her.

"Calm down, Ikanago. We are shinobi of Sand. It is unsightly for supposedly seasoned warriors to lose their calm over such trivial matters," replied a different member of the Go-Ikenban, the one named Joseki who sat on the right of the Kazekage. "Truthfully we may not know much of Miko-san, but to know more about her is the purpose of today's gathering isn't it? Without understanding and mutual trust," the old councilman regarded her intentionally as he said this. "...we will never work through this impasse. Miko-san has been with us for almost a year and in all this time she has not done a single thing to harm the welfare of Sunagakure. I would see to it that we, as honored elders of the village, return her gesture in good faith. Either way, we are here to find out what happened earlier today. I do not see a better solution to understanding than what she has offered. Or do you perhaps have a better idea?"

Joseki's suggestion was the trigger for an argument. All at once the rest of the Go-Ikenban broke their silence, the many voices clamouring for attention. Some were in agreement with Joseki while others were vehemently against him. A few, it seemed, had chosen a more neutral ground.

"I can see your point, Joseki-dono. We certainly need to get to the bottom of what happened today, and indeed if we were to see into the Miko's memories, it would only make this much easier for us all. But Ikanago's concern is not out of place. Keep in mind that if what she says is true, then her power operates on a completely different basis compared to ours. Who's to say what will happen when the two is mixed while linked to our minds? Also what would happen to this village if the elders of Sand were to come away from this… less than we were? Certainly to go for it right now, when we know so little about how this… Miko ki… works is a poor choice at best."

It was around this time that the door to the chamber opened once more and Baki came in with a long box the size of his forearm. He went to Rasa's side silently, put the box on the surface of the round table, opened it.

"I hear all of you," said Rasa as he lifted a pale bar of pure silver from the box. "While I do not necessarily agree with some of your points, each of them is a valid view. However, there is no sense in arguing among ourselves at the moment. None of us will be convinced to change our mind easily, much less in such a short amount of time. I will say only this…"

In his hand, the silver bar melted, dissolving into a cloud of glittering silver particles. The cloud hovered above his palm for a moment before floating onto the surface of the round table where it drew a perfect belt around the edge of the table right at the rim of the table. The belt was covered in tiny inscriptions, fuin, she realized, so fine and densely packed that they looked like a uniform circle at first glance.

"... I may not know much about Miko Higurashi's abilities… nor her personal history, but I believe that she will not break my trust."

That surprised Kagome. It was the last thing she had imagined she would hear from the usually taciturn Rasa, especially after what she had just pulled in the Market Square. She almost gaped at him in open shock.

"If you cannot trust in her, then trust in me as your Kazekage." He laid his hand on the table atop the silver circle of fuin, before turning to her. "Come, miko. Place your hand on this circle. Those who are connected to it will be shown the vision that you wish us to see."

It seemed Rasa's declaration was a strong enough vote of confidence for the elders of Sand and one by one they extended their hands and laid them on the silver fuin circle, though some were slower to do so than the others, and a few wore openly grudging expressions on their faces. Kagome left the sleeping boy in her seat and approached the round table. Casting a look at the Go-Ikenban, and observing that the last to have lain his hand upon the circle was the man who had protested her suggestion with the most zeal, Kagome laid her own hand on top of the circle.

The connection was immediate, as was the familiar pinprick of the fuin in her palm activating. The Sand people's unique version of the ofuda script was as easy for her to manipulate as it had been that first time she met Rasa. Kagome took a deep breath, reached out, took hold of the connection in the fuin, and reversed it.

The great chamber around them disappeared in the blink of an eye to be replaced by...

… The vista of Japan during the Sengoku Jidai was a breathtaking one. She remembered seeing this the first time she had hopped onto Inuyasha's back and was taken with him as he leapt high into the skies. Open green fields, dense, dark forest, rushing blue rivers and dizzying falls, a backdrop of mountains and wilderness untouched by human hands. The vast skies were a tapestry woven from threads of brilliant hues: blue and white and pink and gold and orange and red as a bronze sun hung low in the skies…

Upon this wonderful landscape, the horde of grotesque demons was a terrible sight.

The first time she saw them was when the Inutachi were making their way through a wooded path in search for the illusive Taijiya village. As the sun went down and the skies darkened, the demons appeared. The oni flew at the head of the horde, leading and lighting the way with a flame that burned on the severed heads of humans. In its wake followed youkai of all kinds. Great snakes with human faces, naked women with fang filled mouth and serpentine necks, ogres big and small wearing the still bloody skin and bones of their kills, poisonous insects the size of great bulls with bloodshot eyes on their carapaces, the skeletons of the dead who had taken to unlife to reap vengeance upon the living. They blotted out the skies with their number, flying with a murderous glee as they made their way to a feast of carnage.

Their destination: the Taijiya village the home of an enemy that they had long wanted wiped off the earth.

When the Inutachi did make it to the Taijiya village, what they found was a scene out of hell. The village was razed to the ground and littered with the remains of dead humans and youkai alike. Corpses were strewn on the ground and in the stream. Dark and putrid, blood and pus soaked the earth. Tainted flesh decorated the ramparts. Some of the dead humans even looked as if they had been partially eaten while still alive and even more after their death.

Kagome felt the jolt of a shock from the Go-Ikenban. But she was not yet done showing them the youkai of her world. These youkai, while ghastly in appearance, had only been petty spirits that wouldn't survive a swing of Inuyasha's sword. This was just the beginning of what she planned to show them.

She showed them Yura of the Hair, the first youkai whose appearance had been wholly human that Kagome had seen. She wore the skin of a lovely woman, with smooth bare legs, a svelte body, and pert breasts under the thin gauze of her tantalizingly immodest attire. But for all that she appeared to be a human, every inch of her demeanor screamed demon. The glint in her eyes and the mountain of human bones and skulls that she danced upon as she laughed in manic glee showed it.

The nothing women prowled the battlefields, their faces empty and wailing for the children who had been lost to war. Sesshomaru sat on the shoulder of an oni the size of a mountain, back when he still wanted them dead, his inhuman beauty as cutting as the sense of danger that exuded from him. She showed them the Birds of Paradise clan as they fought Koga's wolf tribe. She showed them the great dragon youkai Ryuukossei as he awoke from the enforced slumber Inuyasha's father had placed him in, his ferocious visage opening up, his yellow eyes fastening on the prey that stood below him, his immense monstrous body shaking free from the seal, so great that he tore the mountain cliffs as it came free. She showed them the Hiyakki bats in the throes of blood thirst, descending onto helpless villagers to feast.

Then last, the most terrible of all. Naraku, in all of his guises: in the body of a young man, appearing and feeling completely human, then as his hanyou self, then in the body made of youkai trapped in his spell, and then finally in his last guise, the giant black spider that hung from the skies, the sight of it signifying the end of their journey.

Only once she was sure the Sand people had grasped what she meant by 'demon' and 'beyond counting', did Kagome start on the other half of the spectrum. The youkai's natural enemy, miko and monks who possessed immense holy power.

Kaede, the village miko that cared for the people, who healed them of their ills and protected her village against youkai and wicked spirits alike, her whole life having been dedicated from girlhood to matron age. Miroku was the first monk she met who actively hunted youkai. The Saint Hakushin of Mount Hakurei, who had died with a pure heart. But if she were to show them people who fought youkai, then there was one and only one stood above the rest: the woman whose death started Kagome's journey, she who had until the moment of dying had devoted her entire life to the extermination of evil youkai.

Midoriko

Kagome had never seen the living Midoriko with her eyes of course, but she had touched her spirit, had heard her voice, listened to her story, and found courage in the tale of Midoriko and the birth of the Shikon no Tama. And so the visions that she sent into the minds of the Go-Ikenban was of a Midoriko born of Kagome's imagination and the memories of the dead priestess herself.

She stood in battle, a woman in her late twenties, ethereally beautiful, pure of heart and resolute. She wore the red and white garb of the Miko under her armor, and in it fought countless youkai. She was fierce in battle, a goddess in mortal shell, unyielding, and undaunted. Wicked youkai perished in the thousands at a swing of her sword. She was bathed in the same aura that Kagome possessed, the power of purification. Whenever the light which was the power touched the youkai, they were purified in an instant.

Having shown the Go-Ikenban what she wanted, Kagome prepared to withdraw from the connection. At the last moment however, a single memory jumped forward in her mind. The sight of the creator of the Shikon had resurrected feelings in her she was not prepared to deal with. The memory was of the last time Kagome saw Midoriko. She stood amidst the darkness of the corrupted Shikon, glowing as if her flesh was made of light. This had been right before her soul was released from the centuries of battle within the Shikon and gained nirvana. She smiled and looked at Kagome with love and adoration. From her mouth a tender voice escaped.

"Kagome...", the voice resounded in the space Kagome now shared with all the members of the Go-Ikenban. It rung with power and emotions far beyond what she could control. It called her name lovingly as if from a mother to her child. "...live happily."

Kagome shut the memory away with great force. Before her, the smiling Midoriko disappeared, replaced by a deathly silent chamber and a shell shocked Go-Ikenban. They looked at her, their faces pale with expressions that suggested they were seeing her in a completely different light.

"Miko... " she spoke up then in the complete silence, answering the question that had started it all. What was a miko? "... is the natural enemy of demons." She let her Miko ki flare up briefly, wreathing her in the same light as that of Midoriko before it faded away. This light of purity, while harmless to normal humans, would prove fatal to all demons and evil spirits.

Silence reigned in the chamber for minutes as they digested her declaration before slowly, hesitantly, a member of the Go-Ikenban, Joseki who sat on the right of the Kazekage, spoke up.

"Is that why you killed the Shukaku?"


End Chapter 10


1. On the scale of craziness, IMO, Inuyasha-verse trumps Naruto-verse by a long margin. Sure Narutoverse has more epic battles, but the brutality and cruelty in Naruto canon is mostly off-screen and tamed as it is between humans. The first significant character to die on-screen was Jiraiya and it took more than three hundred chapters for us to actually see him kick the bucket. Whereas in Inuyasha, people were dying left and right in gruesome manners: from wars, from being beheaded, from being eaten by demons and even by their fellow humans (i.e. Peachman who practiced cannibalism to attain youth and immortality), from having their blood sucked dried, from being eaten to the bone in seconds by a swarm of demon rats, from being skinned alive, etc… We have people being killed and then resurrected and then killed again. Within the first three volumes, we already have a guy, completely vanilla human painter, who thought using ink made from the blood and guts of dead people to paint pictures was a swell idea. We also have children whose parents were eaten by demons taking up youki guns and go on a rampage killing demons indiscriminately regardless of whether the demons being killed were good or bad (i.e. Goryomaru's orphans). Also from the first three volumes, we have beautiful women being forced into egg sacs and slowly transformed into giant tadpoles (with their fucking human heads intact!) and served as food to a toad demon.

It's sort of ironic because Naruto is a shonen series and Inuyasha is supposedly a shojo series (to me it's more an Asian fantasy series though, especially the manga. The anime really played up the shojo aspects of the series but in the manga, the shojo elements only play secondary roles to the storyline which is great in my opinion), but if anybody asks me which one is the more hardcore series it will be Inuyasha hands down. Naruto… is sort of a kiddie world when compared to the absolute mayhem of the Inuyasha manga.

2. Some reviewers remark that they feel the Inuyasha series is being a little underrepresented in From the Garden of Gods, especially compared to the amount of world building for Sunagakure and subsequently Narutoverse. Well, I'd say there's little to be done about that since Narutoverse serves as the main backdrop of the story. Still, chapters like this should mitigate that unfair representation a little bit. We'll gradually see more aspects of Inuyasha verse showing as we as well as the people of Sand learn more of what happened to Kagome (so there's that).

3. This chapter was supposed to be longer and cover the meeting with the Go-Ikenban in full. But I thought it was getting quite long so I cut it off here and leave the other half to next chapter (coming soon). The meeting of the Go-Ikenban covers two major points: a. what is a miko and b. the fate of Gaara. So next chapter we will see that being discussed as well Kagome's reason for going to such length to protect him. Next chapter will also cover the Go-Ikenban's reactions to Kagome as well as their solutions on how to handle what has now become a tactical level asset to the village (while said asset still demands to be near their other, less unstable asset a.k.a Gaara).

4. The names of the Go-Ikenban members in this chapters are purely canon (more or less). If you check the Naruto wikia, you will see new names having been added since the Gaara Hiden was published (I read it. It's pretty nice. And it actually introduces a disciple of the 4th Kazekage. That was interesting).

5. Last week, an anon asked me a very interesting question on my tumblr Ask Sythe account. Here is the ask in question:

Anon: If Kagome didn't end up in Suna but in Kumo what would you think would have happened?

And here is my answer:

The story would be completely different then… if there is one at all. In a way, Kagome was lucky to have landed in Suna since out of all the villages, it is the one that most appreciates her range of abilities. If Kagome landed in Kumo, her first few weeks would be better than in Suna in that she wouldn't be stranded in the middle of a desert. Instead, she would be stranded in a mountainous woodland area (which is Kumo general geography). She does fare far better at trekking through wooded terrains than sandy terrains. Eventually, she would have ended up in some kinda village, though not necessarily Kumo itself (can be a civilian village nearby).

Life for her would have been… dull and depressing. She is literally the dimwit girl who came from the wilds to these villagers. Maybe they will take pity on her. Maybe they'll try to take advantage of her. Kagome will still live though and strive to uphold her end of the promise to Kikyo. Her life is secluded, near a hermit. She knows well how to survive in a forest. She can hunt and keep herself mostly out of dangers, but she will basically be regarded as a crazy hermit girl by a lot of the villages in and near Kumo. Eventually, she will get through her first depressive state (survivor's guilt and all that) and be somewhat more inclined to use her abilities to help people who pass by her secluded area of the woods (imagine children getting lost in the woods being shown the way, or old women with sprained ankles being healed by the wild hermit). Eventually she becomes something of a local myth/fishwife's tale (though that will take years to happen).

The Kumo ninja are mostly uninterested in her once they have checked her out and see that she is no threat to them (just a normal civilian girl who cannot speak and seem a little dim in the head)… that is… until the incident of Yugito Nii. By chance, when Yugito was attacked by Akatsuki in the beginning of Naruto Shippuden, it was near Kagome's area of the woods. Hearing the desperate cries of the Two Tails, Kagome comes to investigate (this would be the first time she detects something in this world that is similar to her old world) and in the process saves Yugito from being abducted and ultimately killed by Akatsuki.

This effectively catapults Kagome into Naruto plot line because of her Miko abilities. Now the rumors about the woods dwelling half mad sage girl is no longer just a harmless, silly rumor to the Kumo ninjas and to Akatsuki. The other villages will eventually find out about her too (though much slower due to their ignorance and secretive nature concerning anything to do with Biju business). Kumo, of course, immediately tries to get Kagome into its fold, by force if necessary. They don't have as easy a time as Suna though because Kagome is in no way attached to their world, their people, their village and their way of life (in contrast, Suna in the main storyline was actively fostering this fondness in her for their people and country. They were much, much more successful too). Through Kumo's effort, Kagome meets Bee and spend a little more time with Yugito… but unlike with Gaara in the main storyline (for whom Kagome feels deeply connected and attached to him due to his unique chimeric construct, his age, and his similarity to her), Kagome don't feel really attached to these two (both adults and both active ninjas). She also doesn't take to Kumo's attempt to keep her in their village well (unlike with Suna again who swooped down on her when she was still in a very suggestible state). She has been on her own for years by then (around 4-5 years since the start of story).

Eventually, Kagome will either try to escape Kumo or she is kidnapped by Akatsuki who already know her Biju suppressing power through that first confrontation. If Akatsuki comes for her, it will be a terrible battle in Kumo.

Kagome meets Itachi and Obito this way and immediately see their fractured souls (Uchiha curse). From then on, the story can wildly branch into different path depending on how Kagome reacts to Itachi and Obito and how they themselves react to her.

Oh, also, because of Akatsuki's kidnapping of Kagome from Kumo, news of a woman sage who has Biju suppressing power (or at least a huge tactical importance) is made known to the other 4 villages.

In terms of romance path, this Kumo AU is a lot less… um… twisting… than the Suna version. Hmmm… also less explicit too, since there's not much time for any thing to develop (Shippuden basically took place over 2 years. At its start, Naruto was 15, by chapter 698, he said to his dad he turned 17. So yeah, not as much time for the romance aspect to develop)

In Kumo version, both Rasa (4th Kazekage) and Sarutobi (3rd Hokage) die as per canon. In the Suna version, they both survive due to Kagome's impact on Naruto world though both suffer permanent damages.

Fuck!

Now you have set my imagination haywire. I'm sitting here thinking of a separate plot line to the Kumo AU (complete with a mostly mute Kagome who communicates through a clan of spirit animals that have decided to keep her company, thus lending even more to her Wild Savant girl image in Kumo AU. I like that image. It's so different from her Gentle Spirit of the Desert image in the Suna-verse. I should draw them standing next to each other: the Savant in animal pelts with braided hair and looking a little rough while the Desert Spirit is dressed completely in fine linen, has long, flowing hair and looking dainty and delicate from having been protected and taken care of by Suna nins 24/7)

Fuck fuck fuck. Now I really want to write that story.

. Maybe just a short chapter?

What do you guys think? Wanna read it?

You can see from my answer that I got a little excited and after having received many answering requests for me to write it, I have decided that I will. That is to say, From the Garden of Gods Kumo AU is coming to you after this chapter (soon)!

6. Cyber cookies for anyone who drops their takes on how the Go-Ikenban are taking all this demon business from Kagome's world.