She's the Reason

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, sadly.

"Itachi-kun!" The thirteen year old ANBU captain turned halfway around and watched the twelve year old girl run up to him then began walking again, with her at his side. "It's been a while since we've been able to talk, (no matter how one-sided the conversations are.)"

The Sharingan-user glanced at her then stared ahead again. "Gomen, Kagome-san, but I have been incredibly busy as Captain and with the duties that my father has given me." The girl, Kagome, nodded thoughtfully and he truly felt bad for avoiding her as he had been lately. She was a unique Uchiha and seemed to attract more trouble than his little bother.

"You know…" He looked down at her to let her know that he was listening. "You may be in ANBU and all, but I think your father needs to realize that you're still just a kid, no matter how much you hide it." She smiled up at him with the smile he had come to love, because it seemed to brighten up his day, no matter how bad it had been. "You need a day off to just have fun!"

Itachi gazed down at her and let small smile grace his features. "I will discuss it with him, but please do not be too disappointed if it does not work out." I believe that I would be disappointed enough for the both of us…

Kagome smile and was about to respond when Shisui came up to them. "Gomen, Itachi, but Fugaku-sama and the other elders wish to borrow Kagome-san." Itachi stiffened and his hand twitched slightly, wanting to grab a kunai and protect the girl.

Kagome seemed confused and not just a little scared, telling her companion that she didn't know why she was being summoned; also that she was dead scared of going. "I'm sure my father can wait a few more mome –"

"He can't." Itachi's glare reminded him of who he was talking to and he gulped, best friend or not, Itachi was scary. "G-Gomen, Itachi, d-demo I was ordered to bring her right away." Itachi was about to harden his glare when he felt a light touch on his arm. He glanced down to see Kagome giving him a look that said it was okay.

He leaned down beside her ear and spoke quietly so no one passing by or Shisui could here. "Be careful; I don't know what they want and they may try to talk you into a corner… Watch everything that you say, and once it's over, come find me." Kagome nodded shakily and leaned into him slightly as a hug before taking hold of a stony and confident façade and walking toward the Uchiha that called himself Itachi's best friend.

Itachi watched as they walked away then turned to go train; he needed to relieve some stress. If anything happens to her… He threw a kunai through a tree and ran a hand through his bangs. She has somehow crept her way into my heart more than Sasuke has… He continued training for hours waiting for her to come.

"Itachi?" The soft voice caused him to whirl around to face the girl. She didn't just look stressed from the meeting; she looked emotionally drained, tired and terrified. "Am I interrupting something? I can leave if-"

"Kagome-san, it's fine." He started to walk over to her and saw that she would meet his eyes. "Kagome?" He took a step closer to her and saw the trembling in her hands as she stepped away form him. Before she could get out of his reach, he grabbed her wrist and held it gently. "Kagome, what's wrong? You haven't acted like this since our academy days." His eyes narrowed when she continued to gaze away from him. "What did they tell you?"

That was apparently the right question and the dams broke. Kagome burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. Itachi instantly wrapped his arms around her and held her comfortingly. She didn't try to say anything yet, and he didn't push her, just let her cry into his shoulder as his eye grew hard. I don't know what they did, but they're going to pay for it. He stroked the girl's back as he began plotting. All his plans vanished, however, when he heard her soft voice.

"They… said I was a distraction to you… that I wasn't to even talk to you now… that if they caught me… I'd be forced to be engaged to stay out of your way…" Itachi's Sharingan had activated in unbridled rage and his hold on the girl tightened, telling her that he wouldn't let that happen.

"Who would you be forced to be engaged to, Kagome?" A sob shook her small frame and he pulled back to look her in the eyes. "Tell me who, Kagome." She shook her head and tried to pull away, but he kept a tight hold on her arms. "Who, Kagome?"

"You'll… You'll kill him, won't you?" His silence was all the answer she needed and she tried to pull away again, but his hold only tightened. She whimpered and he barely caught the whispered name. "Shisui…"

Shisui sighed as he looked down at his reflection in the stream. What had possessed him to volunteer to marry Kagome if needed? Sure, he liked the girl, but so did Itachi, and what the prodigy considered his, he kept. "What did I get myself into?"

"That is a very good question, Shisui." Said boy whirled around to face a hard, Sharingan glare. He tried to stand, but found that he couldn't move as Itachi slowly stalked forward, his glare never moving from his 'best friend.'

"Itachi, I swear, I only volunteered because I though that it would help." His shaky voice did nothing to diminish the other Uchiha's anger, if anything, it made it flare even more. "I thought that it would be better if she was with someone she knew and you knew would keep her safe."

Itachi came to a stop and looked into his eyes. "Shisui, Kagome barely knows you at all, and you should know what I do not trust anyone else with what is so obviously mine." Seeing the confusion in Shisui's ebony eyes, he explained. "She comes only to me, looks only to me, and pays attention only to me, therefore, she is mine."

Shisui saw the hard, angry look in his friend's eyes and smiled softly. "Aa, I suppose you're right." He saw a carefully masked flash of surprise and closed his eyes. "I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry; now go on and kill me before the paralysis wears off."

Itachi was surprised at Shisui's command, but he didn't need to be told twice. He had, after all, admitted that he had wanted to take Kagome away from him, no matter how he had dressed it up. "Forgive me, Shisui."

The ANBU captain quickly pushed the other Uchiha into the stream and turned away, not wanting to see him struggle to breath through the water and even take his last moments before dying. He took in a shaky breathe and began walking away. He would need to make this look like a suicide.

Two weeks had passed since Shisui's 'suicide,' and only a few days later, two Uchiha police officers had followed him into the afterlife. Kagome sat on her bed, staring at her hands. She knew that the three deaths hadn't been suicide, but she couldn't tell anyone; Itachi would get into trouble and she would never forgive herself.

"Kagome." She jumped and looked up at the Uchiha prodigy. Speak of the devil… Kagome looked into his Sharingan before running to him and throwing her arms around him. Murderer or not, she still loved him, after all, he wouldn't be Itachi if he was anything else, and she would never try to change him.

"Kagome, are you alright?" He felt her smile and nod. He let out a sigh of relief and rested his head on hers. The last few weeks had been hard on him too; he was still fully realizing that he had killed his best friend, and it was hard. It was also highly probable that Kagome would be accused of killing the three that he had, but he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't kill anything unless it was a direct threat to someone she care about. "Have they called for you again?"

The girl shook her head and pulled away. "They've ignored me with all the attention being focused on the three… deaths." She looked away, feeling guilty that they died because of her. Itachi stroked her cheek, knowing full-well that she didn't like to think about them, especially Shisui.

They heard footsteps coming down the hall and Itachi seemed to fade into the shadows. Kagome stood anxiously facing the door. Her mother opened the shoji screen and looked at her sadly before stepping aside to allow four police officers to come through. They surrounded the girl and an elder walked in, apparently feeling very superior, but also disgusted that he was in a 'peasant's' house. "Uchiha Kagome, you are hereby arrested for disobeying the orders of the council."

Before he could give the order to take her away, a kunai was conveniently blocking his airway and another was allowing his lungs to fill with blood. The officers whirled around to face an angry Itachi, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning furiously.

Blood splattered across the floor as they fell to the ground beside the elder and Kagome's mother screamed before she too fell and blood began pooling around her. Kagome felt tears burn her eyes and she turned around to face him. He stared at her blankly before spreading his arms, offering both comfort and an apology. She accepted and ran to him. She let him run his hands through her hair in a soothing gesture as tears trailed down her face. "Gomen nazai, Kagome, but I will not allow anyone to take you away from me."

She sighed and buried her face into his armor. A lot of people were going to die that night, perhaps even the whole clan, but Itachi wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He pulled away slightly and, in a soft tone rarely used by the soon-to-be missing-nin, he whispered. "Pack whatever you might need and get some rest; I'll be back in a couple of hours." She nodded and watched him disappear from her window, leaving her surrounded by blood.

Kagome was awoken again by Itachi shaking her shoulders. She had been sleeping in her mother's bed, having not been able to bear sleeping in a room with so much blood. Blinking the weariness out of her eyes, she looked up at him and saw a sadness and weariness in his usually cold eyes. "Itachi-kun? What happened?"

The Mangekyo-user sat beside her on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "There was… an unexpected development when Sasuke came home." She sat up and wrapped her arms around him. No more words were needed, because she understood that he wouldn't tell her about how much he hadn't wanted to hurt his little brother.

"Come; we need to leave before ANBU arrive." Within seconds, there was only one living Uchiha in all of Konoha, and he swore revenge against the one who he had once called brother. Through all the havoc, no one noticed the absence of all files concerning one Uchiha Kagome. To all who never knew her, she had never existed.

Itachi burned them that night, while Kagome slept. He would not allow Kagome to be discovered and hunted, which she would be, he knew, because she was the reason.

AN: This was a different one, but I liked it all the same. Thank you all for reading! And please tell me if there is anything you want me to write for this. Review!