Chapter 24: Unknown strength
Sango looked at her name on the screen with as much calm as she could when her two teammates were making a scandal behind her, and she could feel the stare of her supervisor coldly warning her that losing was not an acceptable option.
Not that she really thought she could lose against mere genins; the problem was that looking too strong was also a no go. The specifications of this mission really couldn't get more contradictory than this; regardless, there was no helping it. She may be the heiress and next head of the Taijiya family; however, she was under no delusions that Sesshoumaru-sama would make any kind of exceptions or forgive a slip-up. Her family may have been one of the strongest supporters for the main family branch, but the standards they were held to were the exact same as everyone else.
In fact, the teen figured she may have actually gotten even more grounded after being placed in her current team, even with two members of the primary family there. The heir demanded perfection of every mission, and this one would be no different. It wasn't that bad, she decided as she ignored Miroku's endless fake blessings and made her way down the stairs. Yes, she was fighting against one of their allies, but at least she wasn't paired with the Higurashi heiress; that would've been a mess.
"Good luck." The words were low, though, not enough for Sango not to hear them as she passed behind the younger girl.
"Thanks."
The response was automatic, just like the thought that she'd need to let the con-artist know about this. Because whether they helped her back in the forest or not, shouldn't she be wishing for her village's success?
No, no.
Not the time.
Reaching the center of the lower floor, she looked at her opponent. The other young girl had a determined look on her face as she made her own way down, also ignoring the loud cheers of one of her teammates. Apparently, despite not doing anything particularly eye-catching, it wasn't likely they'd get anyone to underestimate them (with the glaring exception of idiots too full of themselves, like the Oto guy who went against Inuyasha).
"Do you agree with this match?"
"I do." Credit where credit was due, the girl showed no signs of hesitation.
"Same here."
"Then," the proctor coughed again. "let the next match of the second exam...start!"
"Just because you're from that Taisho clan..." Arrogance was missing from her voice, just confidence and determination. "Don't think you can beat me that easily."
A couple of scrolls were immediately on the other girl's hands, and surprise colored her face. It would be impossible not to recognize the seals on the edge of the scrolls; any weapon's specialist would be able to identify the seals used in the unique scrolls made to store blades in the best conditions possible. Sango took a quick glance at her supervisor before letting out a small smile, her hand moving to grab the oversized boomerang at her back. She could only use it sparingly, and if her opponent was going for armed combatant instead of relying on ninjutsu, winning without it should be possible, and yet...
" I see, if that's the case..." The weight of the Hiraikotsu was a familiar comfort as she placed it on the ground beside her. "Then I won't be going easy on you."
Yes, she couldn't go all out, but out of respect to a fellow weapon's specialist, she'd use the one she crafted herself. The other girl didn't wait to move, a barrage of weapons flying in every direction. The onslaught of flying projectiles wasn't hard to protect from; the Hiraikotsu might be bulky, and it took some time to get used to carrying its weight, but unlike most weapons, hers provided a more than decent shield when needed. Plus, the material it was made of was lighter than its appearance made it look like.
Waiting behind the boomerang, the girl counted in her head; there was only so much longer this could go on before the scrolls got empty. And while probably effective against other genins, her opponent wasn't really adding much to the attack. Not bad, but a bit basic; if her defenses were the same, then Sango's options for going on the offensive were a bit more limited than she'd have liked. Inuyasha sure got lucky, getting to fight with someone they had no treaties with. Konoha was not only an allied village but also the place their current assignment resided. It wouldn't do to go too hard on them.
Taking advantage of the momentary lull on the barrage of blades, the weapon's specialist moved, her hand closing around a couple of smoke bombs and releasing them in a fluid motion. Thick tendrils of smoke covered her vision in a familiar pattern; usually, she'd rely on Inuyasha or Miroku to guide her aiming, but considering the place they were fighting in, hitting her target wouldn't really be that much of an issue. There was no place to run to. The sound of the enormous boomerang cutting the air around it as it made its way to its destination filled her ears.
Followed soon by the loud crack of the specially made weapon as it sunk into the walls.
The Taisho kunoichi shook her head; the other girl knew her art well enough if her aim was to just achieve chuunin; if her plan was to follow her teammates, though, she needed to do something else with her attacks. Sango herself had to learn how to add her chakra, as well as implementing ninjutsu to her techniques, or risk falling behind her two kekkei genkai wielder teammates.
Simple attacks just wouldn't cut it.
A couple of seconds was all it took for the smoke to clear up, revealing the younger girl pinned beneath the Hiraikotsu as she struggled to try and push it off of her. A useless endeavor, but one she could admire.
Unsheathing her slender katana, Sango stepped closer. She wasn't planning on actually hurting the girl, but if she wanted the examiner to declare her the winner, she needed to show how much of an upper-hand she had.
At once, the Konoha genin tensed, brown eyes carefully following the shining gleam of her blade. All struggling stopped.
"Will you give up?"
It took a second, the other kunoichi clearly assessing her options, but ultimately, she sighed and nodded.
"This match is officially over; the winner is Taijiya Sango!"
"You're not bad." There was barely any strain in her voice as only Taisho female pulled back her weapon, easily dislodging it from its place on the wall. "But you'll want to broaden your repertoire if you want to be able to keep advancing."
They may not have bothered to observe every genin in the village (their attention focused on the little heiress and those around her), but it wasn't that hard to realize Tenten's teammate was a Hyuuga. Even if their really noticeable teacher wasn't so prone to boasting as the man apparently was, it was clear the other boy was leagues above most others here.
"You're better, though." There was surprisingly little bitterness in her voice.
"Yeah, well." Her eyes darted towards the upper floor, where her friends were again making a small ruckus. "I kinda have to, or I'd be left behind."
While her family was definitely well established within the Clan, it wasn't due to some sort of unique bloodline or carefully selected partners. They kept their position thanks to nothing but hard work and perseverance. Both things that the young girl had made sure to exercise, especially when it became evident her little brother had no wish to follow their family's path and had begun to show an interest in medical jutsus. Sango would become head and inherit all the responsibilities; if she couldn't keep up when they were still being coddled within a team, she'd never make it as a successful head.
Shaking those thoughts out of her head, the weapon specialist went back to her teammates. There was no use feeling blue because she started thinking of her family; if what they knew about this test was true, it would still take some more time before they could finish this mission. Feelings shouldn't interfere with an assignment.
"That was a ballsy move."
"I only used a smokescreen; I didn't even add chakra to the attack." The girl rolled her eyes at Inuyasha's scoff.
"She is right," Miroku added, trying to get a bit too close to her; there was a pout on his face as she took a step back, damn him and his cursed hand. "There was not much she could do when going against an allied nation."
In the background, she vaguely heard two new names being called. A fiery redhead and a chubby boy made their way to the lower floor as the foreign team continued talking in a low voice.
"So, what did you think?"
The words were vague, but with Miroku, there never was a need to be explicit. He knew exactly what she was referring to. There hadn't been too much time to talk before her match (he'd been adamant in observing the Suna girl's fight), so now they finally had the time to hear what their information-gathering expert had gotten from the little heiress' fight. Truthfully surprise didn't cover what she felt when Sango finally saw the younger girl. Sure, Kagome hadn't been in peak condition when they left her back in the forest, but whatever happened between the moment they left her team and their arrival at the Tower had entirely depleted the poor girl.
"I think had her fight lasted one more minute, it would've been too much." As always, there was more hidden to his words.
"Yeah, she really did look ready to fall over."
"Oh, that as well, I guess." The fake monk's voice was amused as he halfheartedly answered Inuyasha's impatient interruption. "But I was talking about the other girl. Her time was most certainly running out."
"Just explain it, Miroku."
"Did you not notice?" It was a genuine question, but Sango could feel the annoyance of their noble birth teammate. "What was about to run out was not Kagome-sama's stamina; it was her patience. One more minute, and we may have had the first match to the death."
The girl did her best to keep from frowning as she tried to pretend she was paying attention to the match underneath them. Something increasingly hard, considering none of the current combatants, had any relationship with their mission, and honestly, the level of the techniques being shown were not that impressive. Admittedly, the clay figurines being used by the redhead were a bit interesting as they exploded as soon as her opponent attempted to roll over them, but that was about it.
"You mean the accident?" she asked.
It wouldn't be surprising if some people had a bad reaction to that, though, Sango herself couldn't say she found anything inherently wrong about it. After being in the field, the realization that being forgiving towards their enemies didn't really work to keep her and her friends alive didn't take long to sink in. No one in their clan would ever complain about being injured if they were the ones stupid enough to approach another fighter from behind, let alone attack them. And yet, the weapon specialist had the distinct feeling that wasn't what Miroku was talking about.
"Oh, it was an accident, alright." How he could look so interested in the fight below as he spoke about their actual mission, the girl would never know. "But it probably had more to do with temporarily forgetting where she was, only remembering at the very last second."
"Come on, you perverted monk, just spit it out."
"What I mean is, I'm pretty sure there was never a second she wasn't in full control of her aim and that the original target was not a wall."
That...was not what her first assumption would've been, if that was what Miroku thought, though, he was probably right. And still, it wasn't an action Sango could fully condemn once the tragedies that had followed the girl were factored in. Once you were on the battlefield, you shot to kill.
"How many do you think caught it?" Logical or not, she doubted many others would agree with their clan's point of view.
"Had I not had the encounters I've had with our lovely matriarch, I'm not sure I would've caught it." A loud explosion cut his words for a couple of minutes, as finally, the rookie was knocked out by the biggest figurine the redheaded teen had launched in a last attempt to stop the younger boy. After the winner's name was called, the fake monk continued as if nothing had interrupted him. "These people have had more exposure to her and her abilities, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone else noticed...that said...her reputation is one of deescalating fights, not starting them their own exposure to her may very well blind them...
"Well, now, that one can be interesting."
Hazel eyes looked around, trying to find what it was that had caught the con-artist's interest when their objective and her shadow had already participated. Finally, her eyes fell on the electronic screen and the names displayed on it.
Unlike her teammate, Sango hadn't bothered to try and memorize any and all families within Konoha. But this was one name that had consistently appeared in their questioning.
For all of her friendly facade, the girl was, in fact, an extremely private person, close only to one person apart from the Uchiha. The town's reviled prankster was often mentioned when talking about the heiress, people wondering how a nice a girl like her could stay so close or be friends with him. Most seemed to attribute it to misguided pity or something else insultingly similar.
From what they could see, however, it was nothing of the sort.
The blond was often joking and fooling around, but there was a certain ease within the group that Sango could see within her own team. Yes, the Uchiha often grumbled at him, and the heiress would softly reprimand him, but there was underlying respect between them. And the weapon's specialist couldn't help but wonder what happened to make someone as closed off as Uchiha Sasuke fully trust the village's fool.
Not that the second name on the board didn't rouse her curiosity.
They'd seen both, the little heiress and her moody guardian react to active threats, but the blond had been unconscious the whole time. This was the first time they'd get to observe how Uzumaki Naruto d react when pinned against one of the three people who'd targeted his friends.
Anxiety pooled inside her in an instant at the sight of the next pair of names on the screen. From her own experience, Kagome was almost sure the only girl in the Oto team was probably the weakest of the bunch, only sending her projectiles towards her when it looked the other two had cornered her. But then again, the heiress sincerely doubted that was all their enemy was capable of. After all, they'd been chosen to test Sasuke, and the azure-eyed kunoichi would be damned if she thought that man had made things easy for them by sending someone entirely useless.
Her worried gaze slid to the blond at her side. Honestly, out of the three of them, Naruto-kun was by far the one in the best shape. Kagome had never and would never doubt the prankster's abilities...but she worried nonetheless. You could tell a lot about someone's fighting style according to their preferred weapon. And senbon users tended to prefer subtle kinds of fighting...
Just the kind of opponents Naruto was bad against.
She watched as the blond's face turned determined as he recognized the Oto girl as part of the team that had tried to get rid of them in the forest. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she knew for sure there was no way he'd agree to walk out.
"Listen, she's a long-range attacker, close the gap and force her into physical combat." The words came out quickly, trying to fit every single thing the Higurashi heiress could think of. "She probably has something else under her sleeve, so you can't give her the chance to pull it off."
"Heh, don't worry, Kagome-chan, I've got this!" The silly little grin on her childhood friend's face helped to soothe some of her frayed nerves.
Carefully wrapping her arms around the boy, Kagome gave a soft squeeze. She was so ready for this whole thing to be over so she could stop worrying about the immediate safety of her teammates, even if only for a couple of hours.
Not that she regretted entering.
For their plans to become a reality, they needed to be promoted as fast as humanly possible. And even their brush with death had delivered one valuable piece of information. At some point after leaving Konoha, the elder Uchiha somehow crossed paths with the snake obsessed Sannin. That alone helped balance out the mess it had turned out to be, though, despite her decision, her anxiety was still at an all times high.
"G-good luck, Naruto-kun!" the Hyuuga heiress managed to get out.
"Hehe, a genius like me doesn't need luck." swallowing the urge to groan, Kagome pushed her elbow with as little strength as she had into the blond's side. "B-but thanks anyway, Hinata-chan!"
Watching the blond climb down the stairs, the Higurashi heiress shook her head. It wasn't the smoothest recovery possible, but at least Hinata's face had recovered from the sad expression it had after the prankster's easy dismissal.
"Should I be worried?" It was barely a whisper; Kagome heard him all the same.
Once upon a time, she'd have gladly accepted her sensei's concern at face value, happy to know that someone else also worried about her boisterous friend. Things had changed, and her trust in everyone over a certain age had come crashing down to the ground. Their team had clearly been a deliberate decision; it wasn't much of a stretch to think their choice of teacher was the same...the real question, though, was how much did Kakashi-sensei really know?
The memory of his panicked screams back in Wave, ordering them to run away, to save themselves and leave him behind...it wasn't something she'd forgotten about, nor was it something she'd managed to discard. In fact, the young heiress was pretty sure the man cared for them to some degree. And yet, Kagome couldn't be sure he didn't care more about the village...
Then again, she didn't have to spill everything out to share some of her concerns when it came to Naruto.
"Maybe..." Her voice was as low as his. "Say, how much damage can a snake do to a fox?"
She didn't feel him tense, Kakashi-sensei had been in ANBU before, but she still knew just how much weight was now on his shoulders. It was a bit of a gamble, with her not being sure how the man would react when it came to the match (after all, the lazy teacher had treated Naruto just the same after the slip up in Wave, with some luck that wouldn't change now). The thing was that while she had some idea of what the curse was doing to Sasuke, the girl had no clue what the snake nin had done to the blond's seal. And she did not want to find out how much worse it would be for him if even a bit of demonic chakra escaped in full view of everyone.
"K-kagome-chan...?"
Forcing a smile on her lips, the girl turned around. Right, whispering for too long would also raise suspicions. Pushing back her worries, the Higurashi heiress grinned at the Hyuuga. In a way, she supposed Hinata was helping her without realizing it. After seeing the other genin show such clear signs of distress, Kagome could remind herself she still had to play along.
"Hey, Hinata-chan..." she said, doing her best to keep her tone light. "Will you cheer him up? I'm sure Naruto-kun will feel extra motivated."
Predictably, crimson rose to the Hyuuga heiress's cheeks in less than a second. The azure-eyed kunoichi smiled, her mind temporarily distracted as she tried to come up with ways she could push the oblivious blond towards Hinata. It would do the two of them a lot of good, Naruto especially would need all the support he could get once they left, and the Higurashi girl didn't trust the village not to ostracize him without their names protecting him.
"You know, Sasuke and I usually spend the better part of our weekends reading scrolls, and well, let's just say that's not where his talent's lay." She motioned to the prankster with a wave of her hand. "Why don't you guys train together sometime?"
"Eh!?"
The girl felt a bit of tension leave her at that reaction. It was quite adorable, to be honest, and it would be less of a waste of time on the Hyuuga's part if she was actually training and not just shyly watching from afar. Yes, while they were still in the village, she'd try to get those two to spend some more time together; they could probably learn something from each other.
"Naruto-kun always gets bored with us reading scrolls, and you guys can use any land within the district." Emphasizing how helpful that would be for the blond and reassuring her that as long as she could sneak in, no one would rat her out to her father would be essential. "He's way too used to our fighting styles, too; I'm sure he'd benefit a lot from training with you."
"W-well...W-when you p-put it like that..."
"Just think about it."
"It's about to start." There was some hidden amusement in their lazy teacher's voice, but she barely registered it.
Her eyes snapped back to the lower floor. Azure gaze locking on the female Oto nin. There were bandages around her head from the crash she suffered at Sasuke's hands (Kagome was more surprised about the other girl not breaking her neck with the strength the Uchiha had used). They were sturdy, Orochimaru's lackeys, or perhaps just too afraid of their master, or too stupid to give up despite their injuries, if she was to judge based on the last Oto genin to fight, the latter was more probable.
Foolish, maybe, but not blind.
The Sound kunoichi had recognized the blond as part of the team that had almost obliterated them. And was not happy with anyone from her team.
"Did s-something happen?" Hinata-chan seemed to have noticed too.
Restraining her surprise, Kagome shifted her eyes towards her childhood friend. It was easy to realize why the Hyuuga heiress made the question. While the blond was still smiling, there was almost nothing left of his usual cheerful demeanor. Tension was easy to pick up from his form, and whatever it was that the Oto nin was saying, it was bad enough for his knuckles to go pure white from how hard he was clenching his fists.
Naruto was getting riled up.
"Naruto-kun!" Screaming was not exactly proper, but having him lose his cool was not something she wanted to risk. "Don't forget what I said!"
"Don't worry!" he grinned at her. "I've got this!"
The words sounded arrogant, but she could see the silent wariness in the blond's eyes. Good, the boy was being careful. If she and Sasuke could beat their opponents battered as they were, Naruto should have an easy time with this.
At first, Naruto hadn't been sure what to think about fighting a girl (not that girls couldn't become great kunoichis, no one could deny Kagome was strong, but he still preferred not to hit them). Of course, once he realized just whose team his opponent was a part of, most of his hesitation had vanished in thin air. For one, the girl was a part of the group that had ganged up on Kagome-chan. For another, they were all following the orders of the snake freak that was after Sasuke.
The bandages around the Oto nin's head a constant reminder of the danger they'd all been put on because of them. Had the Taisho group been just a couple of minutes late, his friends could've been...
He could feel his nails digging in his palms as he forced himself to keep grinning. His childhood friend's words ringing in his ears, he may be impulsive, but he was not stupid enough to ignore Kagome's warnings. Long-range and probably sneaky...so going against her like he was sparring with the Higurashi heiress then.
His next grin was a bit more genuine, if less friendly, while he nodded his agreement to the battle. As long as the Oto girl wasn't as fast as his teammates were (and chances of that were slim since even with the three of them, they failed to bring his childhood friend down), he'd have this fight over and done with, in less than five minutes.
As much as the village liked to think him a fool, he could learn from his own mistakes; he was a good fighter and could very much tell when it was time to get serious. And this was definitely the time for that. If only to ease up some of the anxiety he knew his best friend was trying to keep at bay.
"You think you have a chance just because your more talented teammate managed to beat me?" He could hear the anger in her voice like they weren't the bad ones here.
"Heh, nop. Not at all." Like she had any right to be belittling him when even cheating, they couldn't win. "I can beat you because I'm just that great!"
"Tch, arrogant much for someone who slept through the whole fight. Don't think you can get carried by them now; just give it up."
"Say whatever you want," he grinned. "but I'm not the kind to let words stop me!"
Bright cerulean eyes snapped to his opponent's hands, senbons already placed between her fingers. Oh, he knew how to fight her, alright.
Without letting the girl move, his hands raised in a familiar seal.
Smoke exploded, filling the room as his clones covered as much space as they could. Long-range attackers were usually trash at taijutsu. They were also likely to try and use something like genjutsu or something to lock their opponent in place. Meaning he had to go all out from the very start.
Surprise was painted on the Oto girl's face at the dozens of clones rushing at her at top speed. Giving her no time to try and move back, Naruto himself jumped into the fray, not paying any attention to the poorly aimed needles sent his way. He was sure to get scolded later; the prankster knew he should be more careful, but right now, he just wanted to end this fight.
A half-made hand seal he'd seen over a dozen timer in the last week alone caught his eye at the moment his clones started to descend upon his enemy. So she was trying to cast some type of genjutsu. Two of his clones were quick to grab on to her arms, restraining her as much as they could to make sure he wouldn't have to deal with an illusion. If this was any indication, the Oto kunoichi was nowhere near Kagome's level, but dispelling genjutsus was not within his strongest skills.
For a split of a second, Naruto remembered what Sasuke had told him back in the forest. The way the moody boy had apparently injured the Sound team, the rage that had fueled his actions and turned into something more like sadism. The Uchiha had been calm as he spoke about it, though, the blond couldn't help but wonder if it was really all the cursed mark's fault.
Back then, he wasn't quite sure what to feel about it.
They were shinobis, their hands stained crimson already.
But it was different.
One look at Kagome was all he needed to know her opinion about it. As long as it kept them all safe, she didn't care about the way it was done. Naruto, though...he felt conflicted and had been secretly glad not to have been forced to see his childhood friend lose all restrictions.
And, yet now...
As he looked down on his opponent as she struggled against his clones, as the memories of the fear he'd felt when the boy could do nothing but sit and listen to his friends describe what had happened since the blond was knocked out came back to him...
When he remembered the way the girl had fallen to the ground, exhausted and wounded, the way Sasuke kept trying to make it look like he was alright despite the fact that him collapsing after his fight made it obvious he'd been in pain before...
For the space of a heartbeat, Naruto wondered if maybe, just maybe...he could understand a bit of Sasuke's violent impulses...
The blond shook his head.
This was over.
He won.
Looking back at the main proctor, Naruto forced a silly grin to his face, trying to make clear he wasn't planning on hurting his opponent anymore, but there was no way she could get away from his clones. It took a second until the sickly guy got out of his shock and proclaimed him the victor.
Oh, he was happy he won, of course, watching the faces full of surprise on every single one of his former classmates except for his best friend's proud smile and Hinata-chan's happy blushing face. The lack of one broody Uchiha, and the slight tension on Kagome-chan's shoulders, however, were dimming his usual cheery attitude.
Cerulean eyes found the only Oto symbol in between the teachers and examiners. The man was pale and had a weird expression on his face. And now, he knew that in one way or another the guy was definitely connected to Orochimaru. Kagome had been right; this exam was just as dangerous as it was important.
"Congrats, Naruto-kun." His friend's voice brought him back to the present.
"C-congratulations."
He grinned once again, placing his arms behind his head in an attempt to look as carefree as usual. "Hehe, I told you I had this in the bag."
"Maah, it was not bad." Kakashi-sensei drawled behind the girls. "But not every enemy is going to be slow enough for you to overwhelm them with numbers."
Somehow, the blond managed to keep a smile on his face.
He knew that already, there was no way this lame trick would've gotten Sasuke or Kagome cornered, but he could celebrate a little...his eyes went back to the Oto teacher on the platform. Maybe his teacher was right; this was not the best time to become lazy.
"We'll have to celebrate all of us passing." The Higurashi girl smiled.
"Oh, oh, we can go to Ichiraku's!" His cheer was a bit more genuine this time. "Hey, Hinata-chan, wanna come?"
"H-huh?"
Whatever it was the shy was about to reply was stopped short by Kagome's low "crap" turning to where her eyes were locked, Naruto's gaze found the reason for the girl's apparent worry.
There, clearly displayed on the screen, were the names of the next set of fighters.
Hyuuga Hinata vs Hyuuga Neji.
A/N: It may or may not be too noticeable but these chapters are a bit shorter than the usual, the thing is, while I do enjoy the tournament format I think you loose quite a bit if you don't have some visual element to go with it and didn't really want any match to overstay their welcome or for them to become repetitive (that's why some are just lightly mentioned as more relevant characters focus on other things). It's not too much (around 1,000 words or so) but figured I might as well mention it, once the tournament parts are over their length will probably go back to the usual.
I try not to get tangled up on real world issues here, but considering the cold weather and the holidays approaching I just wanted to say, please stay safe everyone, it's certainly going to be different this year but better safe than sorry.
As always thank you guys so much for reading and any review/comment/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
To Orange Bolt: Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoy the long chapters, the original plan was to have the chapters be around 3-4k but...yeah they took a life of their own. And Orochimaru will certainly try to manipulate Sasuke, that's for sure, the thing is, as far as anyone knows his motivations are to find and kill Itachi something that is not the case anymore, things are changing after all and Orochimaru is not the kind of person you open up and tell your secrets so his true goal is probably not going to be guessed so easily. As for Kagome she's still going to be kind to people she considers friends or sees as victims, but that number is quite low, sadly enough the world has proven right the worst advices she was given, still I'm trying to keep some of her core characteristics as intact as possible in the circumstances.
To the guest reviewer: Thanks, and yeah, I always have a bit of an issue with reincarnation stories in general, unless neither of them remembers the past lives it's a bit hard to me to buy the romance. Maybe if they'd given Kagome some distinctive physical characteristic, like really different from Kikyo it could've been a bit better in that respect, or if they'd never resurrected her in the first place...or at the very least have Inuyasha make a decision before she died again.