---Sorrows of Yesterday---

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Yosh! People are wondering/fretting about how Kagome seems so weak…well, you see, I've got this story plan out and well…it's coming along. It's somewhere along the lines of my story plan and I'm thinking:

Since Kagome has basically just gotten to Konoha, she hasn't completely adjusted yet. As soon as she learns a couple things, then maybe something might start going on.

Thanks for your support so far!

Chapter 13: Discoveries

'Shit! Why didn't I sense him?' Sasuke cursed, watching the horror unfold.

Sure, Sasuke was an experienced shinobi, though with his usual lack of sleep, he didn't sleep much anyways and having to fight and run all night long, right after that basketball game it was exhausting. Thankfully, he didn't even have to activate the Sharingan, which was still half under the control of Orochimaru's seal, even though he was dead. He cursed that snake.

Kagome snapped her eyes open, frowning. "What?" Following Sasuke's eyes, she turned around to see yet a seventh Stone-nin diving down from the sky – heading right towards Kagome.

"Kagome!" Sasuke willed himself forward, running up to where Kagome was standing, and with a second left to spare, shoved Kagome out of the way, leaving him wide open for an attack.

The attack that was meant for Kagome was thrust right into Sasuke's stomach; jagged teeth-like blades dug into his skin and stuck out the other side.

The stone-nin didn't really care. He at least hurt somebody.

For a moment there, it seemed as if time had frozen; and Sasuke slowly glared at the stone-nin. He grasped his hand around the handle of the sword and still watching the enemy, pulled the blade out.

It was excruciating pain, but the Uchiha felt utterly numb.

He didn't know why he was doing this, but Sasuke then took a step forward, with ragged breaths. Pushing all his weight ahead of him, he swung the blade at the enemy before he could react.

Blood splattered.

There was a pause before Sasuke really confirmed it.

The enemy was dead.

"S-Sasuke…?" Kagome stared up at him from where she has remained after falling when he pushed her aside, "Sasuke….are you okay…?"

Breathing heavily, Sasuke merely glanced down at Kagome, a bit of warmth in his eyes that she missed; and then slowly, he started to stagger, trying to maintain his balance.

Kagome scrambled to her feet and steadied him before the Uchiha's knees gave way and he fell unconscious as the miko struggled to keep the man's weight up in her arms. Terrified, and not really knowing what to do, Kagome slowly rested him on the ground over a patch of settled grass, brushing the dirt off it.

Blood was gushing out of his serious wound…the blade had gone in, in such a way, that it didn't hit his organs, but could still be fatal.

Somehow, Kagome had the nagging feeling that Sasuke had been able to do that himself, since she saw with her own eyes, that the ninja had not intended to miss his organs at all.

Kagome stared at the thick, crimson blood stained grass, wondering, if she actually tried, would it work?

Her eyes shifted to her hands, 'What if…?'

Slowly, Kagome lowered her hands to Sasuke's wound and bit her lip in concentration. You could start to see a faint pink glow emit from her hands and attempt to heal the fatal wound.

Frowning, Kagome realized that the blade has been jagged, torn in such a way, that the tissue could be un-repairable.

From this new revelation, Kagome started to cry. It started out as staring forlornly, and then tears started to form in her eyes, until she couldn't stop them from flowing.

After several minutes, she told herself firmly that crying would not help the situation, due to the past experience, and tried healing the wound once again.

Her efforts hardly helped at all, but they were not put to waste.

The ripped and jagged edges of his skin gently lifted up and slowly wove with the others.

Kagome regretfully trimmed an inch off each of his bangs with his kunai, placing it beside his wound as she had learned from Kaede.

As the pink glow enveloped the wound once again, the strands of her air started to weave into the injury, the raw skin patching up and healing.

She let out a shaky breath, sagging low against Sasuke's chest in relief.

She didn't use enough power to completely heal it, but the least she could do was close the wound. There was still the dilemma of internal bleeding and more complicated matters. Besides, if she used all her energy, she wouldn't be able to get Sasuke immediate attention.

Careful of the wound, Kagome worked her arms underneath his body, gently pulling him up in to her arms. Her weak knees shook as she stood up, and she staggered a bit under his weight before balancing herself out.

At this point, Kagome's weapons started to get extremely uncomfortable since she was carrying a person, but she didn't take them off.

Unsure of which way to get back to the village, Kagome tried to retrace her steps, breaking into a fast walk. If she ran, her movements could make the raw injury worse.

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After at least half an hour, Kagome, weary and tired, found familiar surroundings.

They were near the Uchiha District.

'Maybe Tsunade-sama could do something…' But then Kagome thought about how far away the building was, and how much energy she had left.

Would she even last that long?

Exhausted, Kagome dimly looked up as a dark shadow loomed behind her.

A tall man with red hair, piercing green eyes, and a gourd stood there, slightly looking down at her with an eyebrow raised when he saw the crumpled form in her arms.

Kagome seemed to pull Sasuke closer to her upon seeing a stranger. She would draw a weapon, but she didn't want to abandon him. This problem was resolved with the conclusion about trying to make peace. "I'm Kagome…Sasuke's hurt and I need to find Tsunade-sama."

He nodded, burning her under his scrutiny, "I see. Sabaku no Gaara; she should be in her office." Gaara turned around and paused. "Are you coming?"

She let out a tired scowl, "Like this?"

Gaara almost seemed exasperated, even though his mask showed indifference. He turned around again, using the sand to lift Sasuke out of Kagome's arms, supporting his body, and pulled Kagome up into his arms, sighing when he resumed his journey to the Hokage tower.

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Apart from all the havoc in the tower, there was a small, soft knock on Tsunade's door, barely heard, but somehow making itself heard over all the noise.

"Come in," Tsunade bit out seriously, pausing as she saw the Kazekage step in with Kagome in his arms and Sasuke, seemingly injured nearby. "What is the meaning of this?" She blurted out immediately, her eyes scanning Sasuke's battered form.

"He's injured…" Kagome stifled a yawn. "Could you please…-I sealed the wound…but…I don't have enough energy to…heal his internal wound."

"I see…" Tsunade nodded quite calmly, too worried to realize the latter of what she said, "Shizune!"

"Yes?" The apprentice turned her head so fast she could have sworn she got a whiplash.

"There's no time to get him into the hospital. We'll probably have to perform the healing ritual here."

The sand started to leak away, sinking the Uchiha on to the middle of the floor.

Hastily, Tsunade ran her eyes over the little bruise where the wound was, using chakra to further examine the injury and her finger to gently prod the bruise, "Nothing vital has been damaged. You can relax at that. Some tissue underneath the skin has just been torn away at the back and front. It's easily repairable."

Kagome wriggled herself out of Gaara's grip and sunk down next to Sasuke's still form. "Thank you…Tsunade-sama." She let out a long breath.

"But…may I ask where you learned these healing techniques?" Tsunade seemed to realize what she had said earlier about healing.

"An…an old, close friend of mine from far away…"

"I see…" Tsunade eyed Kagome tersely, "Gaara, do you have a report, please?" "I won't forget what she just said. There's more to her than we know."

The Kazekage nodded. "I've scoured the village. All that remains of the fire are ashes and cinders. By the looks of it, the Stone-nin have been disposed of."

The miko shifted once pushing her arms to will her legs to move. Kagome used her knee as a support, staggering as she stood up.

She was shocked when she noticed Neji and another quite similar looking girl lying next to him near the Hokage's desk. They seemed to be unconscious.

At the moment, the door, without warning, slammed open again, startling Kagome and Tsunade, where as Gaara showed no sign of emotion other than whipping his head around.

"Tsunade-sama!" Kiba and Akamaru burst through, dragging a bloody body along with them, "This Stone-nin we killed…" He beckoned Tsunade closer until she was looking directly at the ninja, "We thought the headband looked too big…"

Akamaru pulled on the ninja's forehead protector, to reveal another forehead protector with three sort of connected ovals on it. The Stone village forehead protector actually seemed to be made out of foil with a Henge around it to disguise it.

"...These Stone-nins, are actually Cloud-nins."

Reviews would be appreciated.

Tenshi-Battosai