Well, I was so happy with the last chapter it allowed me to further frame what I wanted. Also look at me updating so soon, that hasn't happened in what a year, and I'm so sorry. I can't guarantee I'll continue to post this often but I do try and I'm figuring out a good pace and how to handle when I feel stuck. With any luck unless I'm visited by more inspiration or something else I want to set up, the chunin exams will begin in the next chapter.. And as always any and all mistakes are my own. I'm sleepy so that's going to be a doozy. So please if there are any major issues please let me know.
Shisui watched from the edge of the Naka River, his feet submerged. He and Kagome were taking a break from training, the sun was hot, the wind stagnant. Not a good time to be had so a break was needed. Hands shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked up, Kagome soared high up with her wings of water. She had been up there for a while and if his calculations were correct right about now, her wings retracted and she began to fall from the sky. This was about the fourth time she had done that today. He kicked his feet as she began to spin in circles sprouting her wings once more with a full body spin to propel herself into the air once more. It was graceful and much better than when she started. The first time she tried, she was too close to the river and smacked into the water's surface.
"I thought you were using this field for training?" Shisui got to his feet quickly to greet the Uchiha patriarch with a bow.
"We were, are, I thought a little break would be good, she was getting frustrated, it's a little hot," Shisui trailed off as Fugaku's critical gaze went above his head.
"She's taken to those wings," the patriarch nodded his head behind the other Uchiha, then his eyes narrowed "Is she supposed to be falling?"
"Oh, she's fine," Shisui said as he crossed his arms behind his head. Fugaku didn't look convinced as he activated his Sharingan. "I'm not sure why she does it but-" He wasn't going to lie when he saw her drop from the sky for the first time, it scared the shit out of him. There was nothing to be worried about, he waited for the clan leader to gasp in shock, well maybe not gasp but, something to show his surprise. The seconds ticked by and he heard nothing but the gentle rushing of the river.
"Look," Shisui's head turned and his eyes widened. Kagome was falling alright but he felt a ripple in the air. He'd been her teacher long enough to know that it didn't mean anything good as Kagome's lax body plummeted quickly to the ground. Before he could begin to flash step, the branches of the trees around them clustered together to catch her, then offered her to him.
"Shit," he quickly gathered her limp body into his arms, placing her on the ground he carefully peeled one of her eyelids back and instead of deep blue, it was a chilling silver. The wind began to pick up, mini tornadoes manifested and Shisui remembered that time he almost drowned because of her manifestations and grabbed her by the shoulders and began to roughly shake her. Fugaku swept the girl from his arm with his Mangekyō Sharingan activated peeled her eye open. Shisui wasn't sure what happened, but the wind died down and Kagome's eyes returned to normal. The air felt calm once more.
Soon the girl regained consciousness and Shisui helped her up, she blinked up at him with confused eyes. He helped her get stable on her feet and waited for her to say something. There was silence as her eyes lost and gained focus at an alarming rate and her chakra lashed out.
"What's wrong" Shisui asked and grabbed her shoulders to ground her.
"I can't hear," she said and grabbed at the side of her head, nowhere near her ears.
"What? That's impossible you just-"
"I can't hear them, I can't-" she gripped her head and eyes wild. Shisui looked around as the nature around them started to match her. It felt unstable. "There's noth- no, no, not you. Please not now, nothing's wrong. Go away!"
"Kagome," Shisui said as he tried to think of what to do, then he turned his head towards the clan leader, "What did you do?" Fugaku's face was unreadable as he took in the panicking girl.
"Kagome, calm down," the clan head walked closer, she didn't seem to notice them and continued to whip her head in every direction in search of something they didn't know. Before she screamed and birds scattered from the trees.
"I can't, where are they? I'm not asking you," she paused with a gasp and knelt down. They felt another pulse of power but this one made them tense as they felt demonic chakra spike. They froze, it felt more potent than the Nine Tailed Beast that had attacked the village all those years ago. But she wasn't, she couldn't be, "No, no, no, stop please," Kagome begged as she curled in on herself more her voice coming out more gravelly by the moment. Shisui would later swear he saw fangs grow from her K-9 teeth. A single strip of her hair began to lighten from dark to gray and kept losing color almost becoming a silver. "No! Make her stop, please," she begged and looked up with teary eyes speckled with gold. Shisui felt like a genin frozen in place unable to think of what to do. Fugaku pushed him out of the way and grabbed her face this time with Mangekyō Sharingan activated once more. And everything that happened was undone in an instant, she was back to be unconscious as if nothing happened once again.
"What-" Shisui started but couldn't find the words
"Take her home to let her rest," the clan head said as he picked her up to place her in the other's arms. Another surprise came when the patriarch pet her head and his face softened. "I'll talk to you about this later." Shisui nodded and flash stepped away.
He was able to sneak into her room with no problem and tuck her into bed. Her face was lax and he hoped that she felt better when she woke up. For the sake of the village not being destroyed again by a demon. But what did Uchiha-sama do? How did he stop her spirits from talking to her? Why did she react like that? He didn't have the full story and that didn't sit well with him. He ran his hands through her hair. A sense of intense protectiveness washed over him, whatever happened he would be prepared next time. And if she turned into a demon he'd manipulate and kill anyone who tries to hurt her. She was like his sister now.
Kagome stared at the scroll her grandfather was offering her, it was covered with generations of bloody fingerprints. She was in disbelief at the paper in front of her, of the responsibility he was about to bestow upon her. A summons. There hadn't been much going on the past couple days, no missions and Shisui was too swamped with work to train her and Kakashi well she had no clue where he went.
"Girl what are you waiting for," he said as pushed the scroll towards her. The old man hadn't been as hard on her ever since she had become a genin and even less so after her mission to the Land of Mist.
"Sorry, thank you for the honor," she gripped it in her hands and before he could instruct her, she bolted outside.
"Child!" he yelled after her, but she was already in the yard.
Years of stealing glances at books about summons was all she was going by as she cut her hand on a kunai, ready to write her name then she paused. Would she write her name as Higurashi or Uchiha? Would she still be a Higurashi in the future? That was a silly thought, she couldn't always be one because she had to marry not necessarily Sasuke, if something tragic happened, but someone. Or would she still be married to an Uchiha just not him? Then would that invalidate her summons? She wouldn't be a Higurashi and able to pass them onto her children but, Souta would be able to. Her fist closed as she stared at the blank spot for her, this was for her. She was Higurashi Kagome and she will sign this scroll as such. The bleeding hand reaching out scribbled her name out as she channeled her chakra into the scroll. There was a pull at her stomach as she was sucked into the scroll.
Her grandfather watched from the porch with mild pride in his eyes. He wondered what her summon would be? She probably wouldn't share it with him, he knew he didn't have much place in her life now that his job of awakening her powers was complete. If his ex-wife could see him now she'd kill him for sure. His heart ached, this is the price he'd pay to keep Kagome alive and train her to embrace her full potential.
Mitsu chatted with some of the Uchiha officers, his home had become to the spot to be after work for tea. Far from the compound, a place that offered near true relaxation. They weren't great conversationalist but, they seemed to warm up to him. Which surprised him, but he figured the clan head had something do with his open reception. Hell they were taking away his daughter, the least they could do was be civil.
"Why do the trees around your house always feel wrong?" Yashiro asked as his already closed eyes wrinkled more.
"It's a family thing, I don't even notice anymore," it was a lie, he did, the residue of his family's spirits. Right now the trees buzzed with Kagome's energy. They entered his home and while the small group of Uchiha consisting of Shisui, definitively his favorite Uchiha, Yashiro, Inabi and his permanent sour face, and Tekka, who always looked confused about his surroundings, which contradicted his strong tracking skills. Mitsu was able to deduce in a pinch he could kill all of them except Shisui with ease. He clenched his fists as he was about to pick up the kettle. These men were his allies, in his home he didn't need to kill them. Before he went to pour tea, he peeked his head out of the screen door that lead to the backyard.
"Father, do you want tea? Also where are the children?" He felt the need to ask because all of them had a tendency to wander off for hours on end.
"The boys are down at the pond and Kagome is off somewhere in the yard," the old man gave a dismissive wave towards the far reaching yard. Mitsu's eyebrows pinched as he thought through the statement.
"You didn't bury alive again did you?" it unfortunately wouldn't be the first time. His father once did it and dubbed it training as a young Kagome struggled to unbury herself, while he piled more dirt on top at a rate her tiny arms couldn't move. Thankfully Mitsu had been home that day and immediately got her out and yelled at his father for his negligence.
"No, she'll be back at some point, you know she sometimes dances off," his grandfather said, "And yes, I would like tea." He paused in the doorway as his eyes swept over the small amount of the yard he was able to see. The jonin left to indulge in some social interactions. It was a good time for the most part, nice mild green tea chilling in its cup, funny tales of odd people they had encountered that day during patrol and so on, but Mitsu dwelled on what his grandfather said.
"I swear my boy isn't gifted in any way he just is able to follow instructions to a T," Yashiro was referring to his oldest son, Hoshida. Mitsu had to agree, Hoshida was an idiot without direction, it was a little sad, but the boy was a reflection of his father. The lack of self reflection filled Mitsu with some dark amusement.
"Dad!" the conversation stopped with the scream and as an excited Kagome burst through the shoji doors. Mitsu was taken aback but how ragged and dirty his daughter looked. Her usually slightly curly soft hair was tangled and oddly matted in areas. There was a gash under her right eye that was also bruised and her nose was dripping blood. Her clothes were torn, bloody and she smelled heavily of sweat and something else he could place but it made him gag a little.
"Are you alright?" he asked as she came over, not seeming to notice the other's in the room.
"Dad! Come into the backyard," she said and grabbed his arm almost tugging it out of the socket. Now that she was closer, he was able to see the bruises blooming on her arms and the deep claw marks that ran down her back.
"I need to take you to the hospital," he stood and grabbed her arms ready to throw her over his shoulder and run. She avoided his grasp and pushed him towards the door.
"No, I'm fine, it looks worse than it is, come to the backyard now!" she danced around him and prodded his side in an effort to move him, while avoiding his grappling arms. He was a second away from just paralyzing her. "Shisui, help."
"Calm down," her mentor said as he walked over. The curly haired Uchiha wedged himself between Mitsu and his daughter. "Okay, what happened? Before we take you to the hospital."
"I already told you come outside," she said with a huff before breaking down into flowers and floating out of the room. Mitsu and Shisui followed closely behind and stopped at the edge of the deck shocked. In the Higurashi garden, there were two black bear cubs chewing on tall grass. Kagome reformed and gathered the bears into her arms.
"Look I have summons now," she nuzzled her face into one of the bears heads.
"How?" Mitsu asked, he didn't have a summons until after he was married.
"Grandpa gave me the family scroll and I fought their mom for them. It got intense, it was weird too because the summons didn't know what animal would best suit me and there some back and forth. I almost got wolves, then this gorgeous momma bear came up and said she used to be grandma's when she was younger. And the momma bear was like 'If you can beat me, I'll give you my cubs to train,' and I was like 'Yeah, I'll do it.' and I won." She stared up at Mitsu with big eyes and it would have melted his heart if her nose didn't start bleeding profusely once more and her eye with the cut under it was beginning to swell shut.
"That's a wonderful story, I want more details. Please put them,' he gestured to the cubs, "Back or down and I'll take you to the hospital."
"Dad, I don't need to go," she placed the cute cubs down and they started to teeter away, "I feel," her words slurred together and she fell to the ground. Mitsu rushed to pick her and checked her vitals.
"She's fine, just drained a lot of chakra," Shisui said crouched beside the man before he chuckled. "This is the second scare this week she's given me and this rate I'll be numb to it." One of the cubs bit the Uchiha's barefoot making him jump back. "Ouch, you little bastard."
"I'm finding that's the case since I've been home, what was the other incident?" Mitsu asked as cradled her lax body and prepared his chakra to teleport to get medical help.
"Um, I'll tell you as we travel, it's kinda hard to describe," Shisui said as his eyes flicked to the other men standing on the deck. And the Higurashi man understood his gesture.
"Yes, of course, sorry to cut this short, lunch is on me tomorrow. Shisui," he said before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Hope you all enjoyed that I did. Mostly the bear thing. Because I was going to make it a falcon and have this cute thing between her and Sasuke, which I still might do. But I feel like a bear would be good for future chapters. Anyway thank you for the support. I really appreciate it. I love you Ja Ne~