Chapter 19: Drops of truths

Golden eyes examined the angry red burn in his right hand, excitement filling him as he realized it was not only the false skin of his disguise, but his actual flesh had been burned. And that was just by lightly touching the shimmering pink energy the Higurashi heiress had used for her hastily raised barrier. It seemed his information was outdated; then again, he figured even his best spy would have eventually encountered some obstacles that were just impossible to pass when trying to someone with an information blackout to their name.

Unsurprisingly, anything to do with the girl's bloodline had been quickly stamped as classified and hidden under lock and key.

Not that those records were necessary for him to be interested in the Higurashi survivor; her blood alone was more than enough to make her worth the effort of infiltrating his old village. There was, after all, no way Orochimaru could live with himself if he missed the chance to see what made her family such a legendary clan. To not even try to steal such a coveted treasure was akin to blasphemy.

He wasn't disappointed.

It was perhaps, better than he'd dared to hope. He knew of the girl's good reputation around the village, though honestly, other than a couple of school subjects, the girl was just above the average...or so the few documents his spy had managed to get his hands on to had said.

Clearly, she'd been keeping secrets. It only took one quick look at the damage, not just the barrier, but the thin needless had done to the summon. That wasn't chakra. She'd use it without hand seals and with such natural fluidity that there were no doubts the kid had was leagues above what someone her age should be. And he wasn't even taking into account the way she'd reduced his summons to ashes; he was sure the girl wasn't even aware she could do that, the raw potential in her nothing short of outstanding.

If he were to acquire her...he could only imagine the heights she could reach, the ones he could achieve.

Truth to be told, he'd been half-decided on her when he stepped foot into Konoha. Whether the chit was personally capable or not made no difference, the body and blood of a Higurashi would always be useful. With such a strong bloodline, it was unlikely she'd die from his cursed seal. Besides, any child conceived from her flesh would not only inherit her own but multiply the strength of the father's kekkei genkai.

Not to say that Higurashi Kagome was useless; Orochimaru would give her some credit, out of the three brats, it was only her who managed to keep a somewhat cold head through most of their confrontation. In fact, he had the feeling that the simple fact of how unremarkable her reported abilities were, was remarkable on its own. Keeping everyone focused on how good she was at playing peacemaker and keeping her companions in line, most people seemed to forget the girl could effortlessly become a powerhouse.

After laying eyes on her teammate, though...

The allure of the sharingan had been too much to resist. The snake Sannin had been lusting so long after the eye-technique after all; he just had to get his hands on it. Attaining Itachi would've been, admittedly, more preferable. The body of a prodigy lauded as a genius between geniuses would've saved him so much time. With so many techniques already stored in his brain, his research could have made great lengths just from that.

That said, watching the younger Uchiha develop and grow from that one fight, the raw potential he could see in that was nothing less than impressive. If he could gain mastery over his eyes so quickly...why, there was a good possibility that he could rival even his brother.

And the sharingan would fit with his work so perfectly.

Being able to understand and replicate all but the special blood techniques after seeing them once...no, he had to have the boy...which was why he attacked the girl.

Official documents regarding the Higurashi may have been sealed, but there was only so much that could be done to stifle the village gossip mill. Especially after the Uchiha massacre. Uchiha Fugaku had the right idea, keeping the small heiress heavily guarded within his compound. No one had seen a hair of her head until it was time for her to start attending the academy (apart from that one incident, but it had been quickly resolved). Even then, it was mostly a direct route from the school back to the district, once she and the boy were left alone, though. Well, it was impossible to keep her restrained in the desolated ruins of the Uchiha District. And when she began to be seen outside, one thing became abundantly clear.

The two orphan heirs were inseparable.

Where one went, the other always followed.

If the girl's life was put on the line, then Sasuke-kun wouldn't hesitate to swallow his pride and accept defeat. If she was threatened, he'd offered himself in her stead. And once the lust for power won over him, there was no way Kagome-chan would stand back...he'd have them both in his hands.

Ah, things were coming along even better than he'd dared to believe.

A somewhat nostalgic form caught his eye.

So it seemed, there was something else in this backwater village; an old familiar chakra brushed against him, rushing through the forest. Probably intent on pursuing him; he didn't care too much to hide his borrowed identity. Idly, the Sannin considered his options; he could leave without being discovered, that much he was sure. But then there would be three corpses and no intruders; disappearing without a trace would have people talking. And if his former experiment decided to share her knowledge, then his presence within the village wasn't likely to remain a secret.

He wouldn't put it past the old man to actually interrupt the exam to hunt for him.

No, that would not do.

So, now he had to make sure things would proceed with no interruptions.

Creating a clone, the man hid to get a good view of what would happen. Predictably, his old, little student came racing through the trees, stopping just in front of his clone. Her affinity to detect chakra was not that bad; unsurprisingly, though, is still left so much to be desired. The girl had no idea the real him was standing right behind her.

"...isn't it, Orochimaru?" Her love for the dramatic hadn't changed at all either, choosing to reveal her cards before making her move.

"Impossible." His clone played along.

Cocky little thin, that part of her was also just the same as always, easy to see with every move she made to force his clone out of the tree. How much, he wondered, did it grate on her to have to use his jutsus when fighting?

Not enough to stop her from using them, obviously.

Anko had managed to maneuver them against a tree, a kunai piercing both hers and the clone's hands. Determination shining disgustingly in her stance.

"Got you," the girl (no wait, he supposed she was a young woman now) said, a vindictive sound in her words. "Orochimaru, could you lend me a hand? The left one?"

Was that the sign of...

Now, this was rich.

Oh, the chit was more than just determined; it seemed his old master's never-ending speeches about loyalty had successfully gotten into her little head. Even if he allowed this to go on, there would be no danger to anyone but the stupid girl who thought herself capable of taking him down. Pity he had to stop the show; having the main proctor of the second phase of the exam die when searching for an infiltrator would definitely make them cancel the test until the threat was dealt with.

A fun way to undermine Konoha's power, but not exactly productive to his plans.

"That's right." The woman had yet to realize something was amiss. "We're going to die together."

No, it wouldn't do.

"You mean to commit suicide? How precious." He had to admit, it was amusing seeing the blood drain from his former experiment's face. "But that's a kage bunshin. You mustn't squander every secret I taught you.

"Why?!" she demanded, trying to pretend not to be affected by almost killing herself for a clone. "Why are you here? Why now?"

"For old time's sake, of course, my dearest Anko! But from your reaction..." He raised his hand, grabbing the frayed edges of the charred fake flesh, getting rid of it to finally show his real face to his old student. "One might almost suspect you're not glad to see me."

"What is it you're after? An assassination attempt? Are you after the Hokage-sama?"

"Heavens, no!" he laughed. "I lack the hubris and the right number of subordinates to attempt anything of that magnitude. My targets are any ninja who display extraordinary abilities.

"In fact, I just left my mark as a little parting gift in one of the kids."

"You monster!" This time, Anko didn't even try to pretend to be calm. This was why he loathed the village and their ways. "That's a time bomb; he'll be dead in no time!"

"True, there's a nine out of ten chance you're right...but just the same, he might survive... as you did." And wasn't that an exciting thought?

"The thought of him..." the woman was hesitating now, almost as if she was afraid to continue. "...does it get you off?"

"Oh, my dear! Jealous? After all this time?" Orochimaru laughed. "Are you still angry that I used you and then abandoned you?

"This child is quite exceptional, unlike you, his bloodline is that of the Uchihas." Finally, he would savor their power for himself. "His face and body are really beautiful; he could be the perfect vessel to succeed me...and if not him, then the delightful heiress by his side will assuredly fit my standards. I foresee interesting times...assuming he survives.

"And don't get any clever ideas about trying to suspend the exam. I plan to savor this; three of my protegees have taken the places of three of your own. If something should happen that robs me of my enjoyment, it will spell the end for Konoha!"

Oh, yes. Interesting times indeed, and he had a feeling that it would involve more than just him this time. Leaving his failed experiment behind, he vanished in an explosion of smoke; soon enough, the Oto trio would test his cursed seal, and after that...he shivered from just thinking about it.

It wasn't the best location she could have found; to be honest, Kagome was sure there had to be better hiding spots. But this was easy to protect, and she had to finish her preparations as fast as she could. Knowing there would be others after them meant she couldn't risk being found before she had the time to put everything in place.

Raiding her teammates' bags had given her enough wires and explosive tags to trap a decent amount of terrain and left her with some for her own use. Technically, they could run into trouble if they used up all their ammunition so early on in the exam, but to run into said trouble, they had to survive this first.

The girl gave a quick glance at her back, there in between the opening of the makeshift haven was the wolf; it was the only one who might be of any use in a fight. Even if just to serve as a glass shield. Still, her fingers found the rest of her carefully packed shikigami.

They were all the same, mostly used for information gathering, they'd be too noticeable to be used during the written exam, but they could serve her this time. A small burst of chakra had over a dozen indigo butterflies scattered around the perimeter before she made her way back under the roots.

Both of them were still sleeping, but Naruto's vitals at least seemed to have stabilized. She could see him breathing easily, a stark contrast against Sasuke's heavy pants. His skin had elt way too warm as she laid him down earlier.

Kneeling next to the Uchiha, the girl tried to take a deep breath, her hands moving through the familiar seals, only to be forced to fight back her panic as she confirmed she had no way to get rid of the seal in his neck.

Kagome could feel the foreign, tainted chakra slowly moving across the boy's chakra system. It was trying to meld with it.

Had it been her with the one with the damned thing, she could've simply sent an overcharged wave of reiki across her body. Her kekkei genkai had never interfered with her own charka...but if she tried to do something like that on Sasuke...

There was a very good chance she'd do some permanent damage to his system...

Reiki reacted to chakra in general; it would take an absurd amount of control to distinguish the Uchiha's chakra from the parasitic one. Control Kagome didn't possess.

Removing the cursed seal with just her kekkei genkai right now wasn't possible.

So, then what?

Her mind went back to their fight.

The man, Orochimaru, was very obviously not here for the exam; they'd been targeted, though, one member of their team had been mostly ignored.

Despite whatever it was he did to the Naruto-kun, the blond felt more like collateral damage than his real objective. The two clan heirs had been his real targets then; in fact, he'd said something to that effect as well, hadn't he...how he'd decided to keep Sasuke as well after all...

Which meant...the probability that the curse was meant to kill them was slim.

Oh, she wasn't naive enough to not consider the fact that the bastard could be the right level of sadistic to let them live just to suffer slowly until they eventually died of whatever that was. It was too much work, though. This thing had to have some chance of survival.

From what she could feel, what seemed to be causing most of the pain was, in fact, Sasuke's own chakra. It was trying to push away the parasitic energy invading his system. The rejection of the curse could very well kill him.

And for that...

For that, she could do something.

It was less a technique and more of a party trick she'd learned as a child. If she sent a small wave of reiki through someone without actually concentrating on healing anything in specific, then the extra tension of the body melted away. She still used it from time to time when their training got too rough. If she were to do that now...Sasuke's system would probably stop rejecting the curse as fiercely...she'd be helping the curse to properly take root.

But by doing nothing, the rejection could kill him all the same.

Trust your instincts; they'll keep you alive.

The Higurashi heiress had received close to no real injuries from their earlier confrontation; her chakra reserves were mostly full at this point, and she had enough rations in her bag to be able to hole up for a while without risking physical exhaustion. That first genjutsu forced to use far much more reiki than she needed. Her instinctual response sent far too much energy ino nothing but air. To make matters worse, more than half of the weapons she'd thrown had been charged...when she added it up to the effort it took to create the barrier with only half of the hand seals...her reiki was worryingly low.

And the more time it passed, the more exhausted she'd be.

Oh, she felt confident that even in her condition, she could probably take on most of the other applicants in one-on-one fights.

Not that she was stupid enough to believe that was how her enemies would approach her. Most likely, she'd be facing a full team on her own.

A groan escaped her; if there was something the Wave mission had made clear was that fighting while trying to protect someone unable to defend themselves made things twice as difficult. Any competent ninja would try to target the unconscious boys at her back on their first chance.

The longer she remained alone, the worse their odds for survival.

Taking a deep breath, the girl allowed a portion of her reiki to wash over over Sasuke, traveling across his chakra network, convincing it to lower its defenses. Making it easier for the curse to take.

She had to do something, and there was no way she'd dare to do anything regarding the Kyuubi's seal. This was the only thing she could do.

Letting herself fall against one of the roots, Kagome tried to relax; it wasn't quite the same as meditating, but it would allow her some rest. Unbidden, her mind wandered as she prepared herself for a long night.

Was there any version of that fight that didn't end with them in this makeshift stronghold?

Maybe, had they managed to make some all-out coordinated attack, perhaps they could've thrown him off balance long enough for them to run away. Of course, there was no guarantee they could keep evading the snake nin until the end of the exam.

Regardless, their chances vanished the second Naruto was knocked out...no, it was earlier than that. By the point the Kyuubi's chakra began leaking, the boy was no longer in control of his emotions; trying to coordinate something would've been impossible. And what had driven him to that point was...

...Sasuke's decision to give up their scroll.

For the blond, who was so used to seeing the Uchiha so confident and proud, the idea of Sasuke making such a cowardly move made no sense. It was exactly what Sasuke would do, though, Kagome knew no matter how many times they repeated that fight, the boy would always try to give it up. It was just like him...

Where Kagome would break into a panic attack by the idea of being left behind, there was the one simple thing that left the Uchiha paralyzed.

Death.

In a way (a twisted kind of way), the Higurashi heiress could understand why Itachi probably did what he did. It was likely that was one of the few things he could still do to try and help them.

Being afraid of death all but guaranteed their survival.

Sasuke would never enter any fight he knew he had no hopes of winnings, and the boy would take as many precautions as he could...it still came back to bite them. His fear so strong that the boy failed to realize one crucial thing, had there be any chances of negotiating their way out the girl would've attempted to do so. In any other situation, the Uchiha would've noticed the implications of her lack of actions, but as it were it only wasted their time.

Speaking of time...

A red-tainted sky greeted her as she opened her eyes. It was early, but the auras she'd felt since she sat down to relax yesterday were still doing nothing but waiting. As she thought, three shinobis had been stalking her little camp since a few hours after she'd settled.

Traps would be necessary for her to level the playing field somewhat; even then, there was no certainty it would be enough. If she wanted to have any hopes of holding her own, she'd have to take control of the pace of the battle.

She held back a hysterical laugh. If they were hoping she'd be easy prey after having a sleepless night, then they were in for a disappointment. The girl was sure he didn't intend for this, but in a way, Itachi had helped her quite a bit. After all, it had been years since the last time Kagome managed to have a fully restful sleep.

"Won't you come out already?" Her voice echoed throughout the clearing, no hint of tiredness in it. "Surely, watching me do nothing but close my eyes has to be extremely mind-numbing."

"Oh, so you noticed us?" Unsurprisingly, she recognized the three people coming out of the shadows as the Oto nins from the first exam. "Not like it matters, just be a good girl and wake Sasuke up."

"I see, so this is what this test was about." Meaning they were expecting him to recover at some point today if the Uchiha managed to survive. Kagome smiled at them. "Say, there's probably no point in me asking you this to you, but since I lose nothing by asking...is there any chance Orochimaru told you just what it was he planned to achieve by marking Sasuke?"

"What do you mean, 'there's o point'?"

"Oh, nothing at all; it's just that's fairly clear none of you are particularly high in the social hierarchy." The girl kept her tone soft; the less of the tension she was feeling could be heard, the better. "Important information like that, well, I doubt it would be trusted to just any low-grade follower."

"You bitch..." Oh, he was really losing his cool, she had an inkling back in the written part of the exam, but this guy had no idea how to keep calm. It seemed this would be easier than expected. "Forget it, I can't' just walk away after hearing that! I'll destroy you and your little friends as well!"

"So you can act without someone ordering you around."

An enraged scream was her only answer as he jumped towards her, so far so good. A flick of her wrist had the first of her wires cut. The large branch falling towards the Oto nins only to be dodged, still, she waited. The sound of the first cracks of the wood was immediately followed by loud explosions as the explosive tags detonated one after the other.

She jumped into the fray.

Being on the defensive would drain her. This time, she couldn't afford to play games.

Long needles were between her fingers as she found her first target within the smoke. No engaging; she just needed one good hit.

Rushing back, the girl narrowly avoided the poisoned senbons as they were sent back to her with one swipe of her opponent's arm. So it was some sort of jutsus, meaning...she needed to figure out how it worked or waste her reiki on them.

"So maybe you're not as useless as it seemed." The guy without bandages laughed, vindictive pleasure dripping from his words. "But things like that will never work on us."

"I didn't expect them to."

Grabbing the thin wire tied to the tree behind her, she pulled.

A barrage of projectiles rained down on them, her hands flying through the motions as she felt the heat of the flames coming to life near her mouth. The fiery inferno latching to the wires attached to half of the blades, and covered the clearing for just a second before it was extinguished. The ground beneath her trembles as the flames died down.

Not one second after, her hands were forming seals again.

Needles were flying through the air, her string of seals forcibly interrupted as she fired to protect her distance, only to be blocked by something she couldn't see. The hot-tempered one was aiming at her, jumping right at her, one hand opened in her direction. Reiki covered her senbons as she sent them towards her enemy. A sigh of relief was pushed down when her gaze confirmed her kekkei genkai had worked exactly as it should; the small projectiles cutting through the air without changing directions. Whatever techniques they were using, she could still dismantle them.

"How...?!"

Judging by the surprise in the expression of the calmer Oto shinobi, they were not counting on anyone being able to counter their attacks.

"Even if you managed to avoid the hit, the sound would've still hit you?!"

"Sorry to tell you, but..." the girl didn't have to force a smile this time, as she made sure to keep her breathing under control and not show how the boy had shown his hand far too early. "...there's no technique you can use that I don't have an advantage against. Oh, did your master forgot to tell you about that little detail before he sent you to fight?"

"Cocky, aren't you?" For the first time, the girl of the opposing team spoke, good, she was getting to all of them.

"Not at all; there's just no reason to worry when fighting against people like you." The angrier they were, the more likely they were to get sloppy.

Sending chakra to her feet, she stomped on the recently arranged patch of dirt, the chain reaction sending explosions all around them. The senbons in her hands flying in between the smoke once again. She needed to finish this fast and get away from here, fast.

The projectiles sent her way were unexpected, pain shooting through her arms as she raised them. The other girl seemed to have finally joined her teammates' attempts to attack her instead of standing on the sidelines.

Were they poisoned?

No.

It didn't matter; even if they were, it made no difference. She could just abuse her reiki as soon as the first symptoms began to appear. It would leave her depleted later, but surviving now was her first priority. She'd run out f traps soon enough.

Whatever it was Miroku was expecting to find when Inuyasha all but dragged them out of their path in the afternoon of their first day after feeling something odd...well, this wasn't it.

Not that it didn't help them, of course, they'd decided to try and track the little heiress for a couple of days before heading to the tower. They may have a mission to follow, but finishing last would have Sesshomaru-sama assigning them to care for Lady Izayoi's gardens for months. The Taisho clan would not make a fool of themselves, regardless of whether they cared for the other village's acknowledgment or not.

Which was why they'd be looking for the girl since they began. True to form to Inuyasha's luck, it would seem they started on the opposite side of the whole area. On the other hand, the first opponent's teams they found had the Heaven scroll they needed, and the whole thing had almost been boring to handle.

Still, he wasn't sure how to react at seeing the small girl trying to keep the three Oto genins at bay on her own. Fire and smoke filling the space as she kept dancing around, trying to land a hit.

"She's doing quite well for being alone." Sango's quiet voice reached his ears.

"It won't last long, I fear." His gaze was still following the action in front of him. "Look at the area she moves around; there's something behind her she's trying to protect. Against three opponents, sooner or later, she'll run out of chakra...and traps."

"Where the hell are her teammates?" Predictably, Inuyasha's voice was barely contained.

"If I had to guess, probably behind her." There was not a lot he could see from where he was standing, the frequency of the smoke and explosions making it too hard to get a good view. But from what little he could observe about her team, there was no way they'd let her fight on her own with such terrible odds unless they were physically incapable of helping her. Their loud absence implied they probably weren't even conscious.

No matter how he looked at it, this was not going to end well for her.

Blood was already flowing from several injuries on her arms, her carefully braided hair was now falling on her back in a disorganized mess. The longer this went, the worse it would get.

The fake monk looked to his right; in their usual missions, it was usually up to him to choose the strategy. At first, his silver-haired friend had made a show of trying to be in command. As a child of the main family, the boy had felt entitled to get the leader position. In the end, however, it was evident that while; definitely capable, Inuyasha's talent lay more in the practical side of combat as opposed to the intellectual part, and the young noble had been more than happy to pass on that responsibility to him.

Strategy was Miroku's forte.

This was not about that, though. Even after all this time, the young con-artist wasn't any closer to understanding the mission. No matter how he thought about it, the girl was just too young to be considered either a threat or an asset.

"So, Inuyasha, What should we do?"

"Huh? You're asking me?" In any other situation, he may have laughed at his teammate's reaction.

"This is not my field anymore, my friend." He gave the other boy a reassuring smile, strategist or not, Inuyasha was capable of leadership when the situation required it. "Whatever we decide to do here will undoubtedly affect more than just this mission."

"But..."

"Miroku is right; it's not just because you're part of the main family," Sango added, it had taken them both some time to get used to their teammate's impulsivity, but at the end of the day, they knew both of them would trust their lives to him, had already done so. "There's way too much we don't know here, but...if it's your judgment, then we'll trust and defend it."

The young swindler couldn't help but smile as he watched his friend's hand reaching for his sword. He had a feeling this was how things were going to go; for all of his rudeness, the boy could be surprisingly soft when it came to specific topics. This just happened to be one of them.

"We go in." Determination was evident in his stance, all hesitation gone. "The bastard didn't want us to be confrontational, so reaching out a helping hand isn't that much of a stretch."

Aiming for the center of the fight, the rush of wind separated the fighters, parting the smoke and flames. It was a rather weak attack coming from the heirloom of their clan's most respected family but efficient all the same.

"Three on one?" Unsurprisingly, his brash friend wasted no time after making the decision. "Now, how's that fair? What do you say you fight me instead?"

"He didn't wait to make a plan..." Sango was right, but honestly, it was a common occurrence; he could understand Sango's frustration, though.

"No, he didn't." Miroku smiled as he jumped into the fray as well, knowing full well the girl would be right behind him. "But then again, we did give him the choice in this one."

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Just some concerned passersby" the fake monk smiled again.

"Listen, this has nothing to do with you; if you leave now, then we'll let you keep your lives." My, it seemed the more normal looking one was also the more hot-tempered one. And evidently, the little heiress had winded him up quite a bit.

"Tch, big mouth there, for someone who needs to gang up on a girl." Inuyasha scoffed.

"Not to agree with my attacker," the young Higurashi spoke from behind them, her voice tired but still calm, even as her hand covered a wound on her left shoulder that...oh dear, was the blood actually stopping now? "But what do you get from doing this?"

"That's..." Sango started, hesitantly.

"We were told to observe you, Higurashi Kagome-sama." The con-artist ignored his teammates' panicked glares and continued on. They had little information on her, but from what he could see, going for a little bit of honesty was their best bet here. "Doing so would be significantly more difficult if you were to die."

"Oi, Miroku!"

"What the hell!"

The sound of laughter rang brightly across the clearing. Pure and bright, and entirely out of place with the situation they were in. And yet, the little heiress' azure eyes shone with amusement as she waved a hand in front of her. "Then be my guest; I could use a little break."

"You think you can just barge in here and leave as you like?" This time, it was the bandaged one who interrupted.

"I don't think, you fucker. I can." And Inuyasha was snapped right back, of course. "Oi, Miroku, Sango, stay back/ I will take care of these guys."

"If you're really going alone, then you might want to..." the Higurashi girl started.

"Tch, I can take them all easily." Ah, Inuyasha and his well known tact when it came to women...or most other people.

Somehow, the pained scream his silver-haired friend let out despite dodging the bandages covered genin was not that surprising. One quick glance to his left revealed his and Sango's feelings were pretty much in sync. It was a good thing their teammate was so sturdy, or his impulsivity would've gotten him killed years ago.

"Oh, so I guess you can figure out they use sound waves on your own then." Miroku winced a bit, the little heiress had kept her voice polite, but it was clear she was more than a bit upset at him.

"And you couldn't have said that sooner?!"

"I thought you could 'take them all easily'!"

"You little..."

"Do you want back up, Inuyasha?" Sango interfered; after so much time, they knew well when it was time to intervene.

"Ah, shut up. I've got this!"

"Please, forgive our teammate; I fear despite our best efforts, his mouth still lacks a filter." Miroku turned to fully look at the girl, his grip lazy around his weapon in an effort to get her off the edge.

"I heard that!"

"He's quite resilient as well, so please, don't worry." The fake monk rummaged his sleeves for bandages. "But allow us to help with some of those injuries."

"Wait."

The girl's hands moved fast through a string of hand seals he failed to recognize. For the number of injuries in her arms, she seemed to have retained most of her mobility.

"We're not planning on hurting you, really." Sango was quick to try and get the girl to accept their help.

"Ah, it's not that." The girl gave them a kind smile. "I just wanted to make sure there was no poison in any of the blades; figured it would be easier to get rid of it now instead of waiting for the symptoms to appear."

Briefly, he wondered if the girl had made a slip of the tongue before he discarded the idea. Her eyes were too sharp for her not to notice a blunder like implying she was capable of dealing with an unknown toxic with ease.

"Wise choice, indeed." Miroku grinned as the younger girl sat down on an overgrown root, allowing Sango to begin dislodging the needles still piercing her legs. "I must say, I appreciate the trust given to us."

"Yes, well...between the psychotic stalker who sent a group to kill us and the stalkers who offered their help, it's not a hard pick."

So she had been aware they'd been observing her then, curious how the heiress didn't show any animosity towards them. Of course, the setting of this meeting and the fact that she still had some cards up her sleeve may have contributed to it. She was, after all, letting them know she had noticed, a slight warning that they wouldn't be able to catch her off guard any time soon.

And then, his brain caught up to her words.

"Wait, what do you mean someone sent a group..." Sango seemed to have caught it earlier than him.

"Seems like Sasuke and I managed to gain the attention of someone else, someone not interested in the exam." Her voice was airy, hiding the severity of the warning she was giving them. "I appreciate the help, but I fear helping me might place you in his sight if this interaction reaches him."

"Like I said, following our mission would be a bit hard to do if something were to happen to you," he said; they may be acting on their own, but he doubted any of their superiors would be fine with them just standing back without doing anything. "You don't seem upset at the idea of being watched?"

"I'm the last survivor of a well known clan that was believed to be extinct. I knew the moment I signed the application that my name would be used to attract more people; besides, most villages try to keep tabs on important foreign families, it was only a matter of time."

"In that you may be..." he trailed off.

Kagome had turned towards the roots behind them, her eyes losing the cold sharpness they'd had until now, tension suddenly evident in her form as she almost stumbled in her haste to stand up. A stark reminder that for all her bravado and composure, Higurashi Kagome was still a child. One that had been terrified about the health of her teammates. And now she had begun to make her way towards them. Her voice full of wary hope as she said one single word.

"Sasuke!"

A/N: And at last, the two groups actually interact, and of course, Inuyasha just had to pick a fight. Like I said, the changes are going to start to grow more and more evident as the story continues, it's just what happens when you add new elements to the mix. Lee would've probably still had followed the squirrel and offered his help, but Kagome didn't wait long enough for that to happen, instead confronting them as soon as she knew her teammates' health was stable.

For the question about Kagome's clothes are usually a combination of dark blues, purples and straight out black, her clan probably used more whites and shades of red (to keep a bit with a miko's outfit) but Fugaku probably preferred to keep to their color scheme. As for the usual training clothe she uses I usually imagine a kimono. like top (long sleeves to hide weapons in as well as within a sash) and a short skirt with short's leggings under, during free days or undercover like missions it's usually a more like a normal kimono but shorter. Maybe when I have a bit more free time I'll make a sketch of it, so, probably until holidays.

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it, any and all reviews/comments/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated