Yaaay, one of the longest chapters! Here is the introduction of Sasuke (Finally D:). I know I was a little slow on it, but I needed to decide how to make them meet, and this all that popped into my head x]
ALSO! I would love to thank all of you guys for reviewing, favouriting and alerting. :D Like geez, 65 reviews, 39 faves and 72 alerts. WHOAAA! But really, thank you verrrry much :D
Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto and Inuyasha? -Checks- Nope, not at all. ;]
Chapter Six:
December 27th was bound to come by again as the year passed.
The though of the twins birthday left a few people excited.
Kagome was excited for the fact that it would be the first birthday she would ever share with her older sister. Also, she was very happy that with their birthday passing and them being six, they could finally enter the Ninja Academy. That meant Kagome would be able to see Neji more often. It also meant that she could practice more with people her age.
Hinata was excited as well, not so openly so but it shone in her eyes. She was happy that it would also be the first birthday she would spend with Kagome. Entering the Ninja Academy was also quite a good though for she would be able to see that interesting little boy with the blonde hair and blue eyes that she had seen sitting around there before. Lastly, getting away from the place where everyone but her mother and little sisters seemed to be shooting glares at her was a relief.
Even more excited then the two of them was Harumi, even if it wasn't her birthday. Luckily, she had been able to convince Hiashi to let the twins have a party, with her planning of course. She wanted it big too, with lots of people and tons of photographers. So far she had planned for a huge feast and dancing afterwords. The woman had already invited all the Hyuga family, the Main house coming on behalf of Hinata and the Branch house coming for Kagome. Also, she had invited a few of the other richer family's to join like the Uchiha (Even if Hiashi disagreed. Harumi was friends with the Uchiha Matriarch, so why not?) and the Taishio. She had already asked for the Hyuga seamstress to make kimonos instead of yukatas this time and the woman had agreed.
While there was only one week left until their birthday, the twins were pulled around by their Mother who asked them constantly what they wanted. Kagome's answer was always, I don't need anything, I already have everything I need. Whenever Harumi turned to Hinata, the girl would just stutter out that she agreed with Kagome's answer. They were also dragged around, choosing flowers and trying their dresses.
The night of the party, Harumi herself did their make-up and dressed them.
Hinata wore a lovely green kimono with long sleeves. At the bottom of the dress was a white wave and all around the bottoms of the sleeves and skirt were small white flowers. You could just see the red of her under cloak coming out of the neck of the kimono. Her obi was a brighter green with a red fade coming on one side, small white flowers on it as well. The rope that held the obi together, called the obijime, was a solid red. On her feet were a pair of food sandals with green straps. Her make up was light greens and browns and her hair was normal with the exception of a lime green bow strung in her hair.
Kagome was dressed in shorter sleeved kimono that was a pretty powder blue. Decorating her kimono were white stars that were scattered around the neck, arms and skirt of it. Her black under cloak was coming out of her collar as well. The obi she had on was a silver silk with a pure and dark blur obijime over it. Her feet were in a pair of white wood sandals that had a black string. Her mother had dusted her cheeks with a white powder, making her look more white than she had been before. Other than that she had on some paint that made her eyes pop out more. Her hair that reached a little past her shoulders was left down, only her bangs were pulled out of her face and a powder blue bow was set in her hair.
"Mama, why do you always pin back my bangs?" Kagome asked when they were finished.
"The mark you hold is special, be proud of it." Harumi answered, poking her cresent moon outline.
"Proud of it." Kagome whispered to herself as she was ushered out of the changing room.
"We have waited too long, the guests are already here." She took the two girls hands.
They would be entering through the large double doors, right into the large ball room of the Hyuga's Main House. Unlike the rest of the house that was styled in anchient japanese decor, the ball room was more elegant. Long golden silk curtains, masterpieces of art on the wall and the most expensive of statues sitting in corners and such. The floor was a tile mosaic and if you were to look at it from high enough, you would see beige swirls around a white lily.
As they walked down the hall to the entrance, Kagome spotted her father with his usual stoic face.
"Ah, Hiashi dear." Harumi smiled at her husband who gave her a nod and took her arm in his.
"Are we ready?" Hiashi asked, standing behind his two daughters in his own kimono that was made of brown silk.
"Yes Father." Kagome saved Hinata from answering and took the other girls hand.
"Alright, here we go girls." their mother gave them a kind smile and nodded for the guards that were at the door to open it up. They nodded and opened the door at the same time. The once talkative crowd down the stairs was all silent as they watched the door open to reveal the family, minus Hanabi who was asleep in her crib and being watched by a trusted female guard.
There was sounds of violins and piano as they entered, something slow and fancy. It was smooth and calmed Kagome's mind. She looked down to the crowd to see many different colors. Mostly browns, whites, reds and blacks though. It was odd to her though, there were men and women there that had silver hair. Was it naturally that glossy and perfect? Also, why was it all so long? All this yumbled around her mind as she made her descent down the stairs with Hinata.
Claps erupted when they reached the bottom level of the staircase.
The two girls were greeted by many people who said hello and gave them birthday wishes.
Soon enough though Kagome found herself being carted around by her mother again while Hiashi took Hinata around to talk to other people.
Harumi took her over to a group of four people, three men and one woman.
The woman was beautiful, almost as pretty as her own Mother! She had a pale yet peachy skin color. She wore a plain navy kimono with a beige obi that had little butterfly's. Her obijime was a pale blue. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, navy chopsticks making an X in the back of it. Her bangs hung down into her face, which made you look straight into her gentle black eyes. Yes, Kagome though, Almost as pretty as Mama.
The man next to her had a long royal blue kimono with a black obi and gray obijime string. His hair was staying down as it was, parted in the middle of his forehead like the woman's. His hair only falling to the nape of his neck though. He also had the same black eyes but the emotions were different. More pride and cold emotions were shown in the depths. Lastly, under those odd eyes were stress lines, running down to half of his nose.
Another male stood beside him, this one much younger though, most likely in his teens. His hair was a black and parted like the woman and mans, this time though, the teens hair was longer and fell down his back in a ponytail. He wore a deep blood red kimono that had black writing down the sides of the collar. His obi was black like the writing but his obijime was a deep brown. His eyes seemed cold, but if you looked closely, you could see small bits of tenderness. Luckily, Kagome caught onto that emotion.
Lastly, the smallest male who was standing in front of them all and was about Kagome's age. He was only a fair bit taller than her own height. His hair was the same raven as the others, having been parted like the rest as well. He wore a black haori and hakama with a gray under cloak. Being a kid meant you would move around a lot more and being in a kimono just wasn't right for the boy. Surprisingly, Kagome could read these eyes better than any of the other males. Inside you could see the kindness and care for the ones close to him, but also deep inside was a burning jealousy.
"Ah, hello Harumi. How are you this fine night?" the woman asked.
"I am doing great, thank you. How are you?" Harumi asked back.
"I'm doing as well as I can in a house full of men." The woman chuckled, then noticing Kagome down at the Hyuga woman's side. "Oh my, how rude of me to not see the birthday girl!"
"Hi!" Kagome smiled and bowed. "I'm Kagome."
The woman chuckled again and bowed herself. "I am Mikoto Uchiha, nice to meet you. This is my husband Fugaku and our two sons, Itachi being the eldest and Sasuke being our youngest."
Kagome smiled and bowed to the men. "Nice to meet you."
"Sasuke, Kagome, Why don't you two go wander while we talk?" Harumi suggested.
"What an excellent idea!" Mikoto added.
Kagome looked at her Mother for a minute, smiled and then nodded. She asked for Sasuke to follow her and the two walked through the crowd to a balcony. They sat down on a couch. Kagome instantly turned to him and held out a hand.
"Hello, my name is Kagome Hyuga." she smiled brightly.
Sasuke stared at her for a couple seconds before saying, "I know that, you said it a while ago."
"Yes, but I said it to your Mother. I didn't really say it to you which was rude of me." she shook her head, hand still up and waiting.
"Hn, My names Sasuke Uchiha." he chuckled lightly. What an interesting girl.
They sat in silence for a while before Kagome pointed up at the sky to the moon.
"I think I like the moon more than the sun." she said out of no where.
He looked at her. "Why is that?"
"Well, in the moon light, every thing is so much more beautiful. I mean, the way that it shines on the surface of water makes it look sparkly and bright! Also, in the night, fire flies can come out and show their glow. In the sun, they just look like normal bugs." her legs that didn't touch the ground, swung back and forth over the couch. "Owls also live under the moon. They make those interesting 'Whoo Whoo' noices."
Sasuke watched the girl staring up at the full moon, her eyes glowing brightly in the moonlight.
She turned her head to him, smiling. Kagome then pointed to her forehead, right in the middle of the crescent moon.
"This is a moon too. Mama says I should be proud of it and that it's a good thing. I just think it's weird, but Hinata-nee once told me I looked pretty with it!" she giggled.
Pretty? Sasuke though while looking the girl over. She had big lavender eyes with tiny specs of cobalt blue. Her unusual navy hair grazed her shoulders in the night wind. Her body was pretty slim and if you looked closely, you could see her arms and legs starting to show muscle from her training. She also had a very pretty smile with pearly white teeth. Sasuke had to admit, she was pretty but for a boy his age to like someone... He thought it wasn't right. Girls were supposed to be icky. This one didn't seem so bad. She wasn't attacking him and asking him to give her kisses like all the other icky girls did. Her voice was softer and not high pitched like the other icky girls. She didn't seem as emotional as all the other icky girls were.
He decided right then and there, after only just meeting her... That Kagome wasn't and icky girl.
"Sasuke, are you going to be a ninja when you grow up?" was the question that broke him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah." he answered. "Itachi-nii tells me I am going to be one of the best!"
"Really?" she asked amazed. "Yeah, he did look really strong, he would know!"
"Yes, I am going to be one of the best ninja out there. I will fight all the bad guys and get a lot of people to be happy!' the six year old Sasuke smiled.
"Wow, that sounds fun! I'm going to be a ninja too! Do you think we could work together some time?" she asked with pleading eyes.
"Well I guess so. As long as you don't drag me down!" he told her sternly, like it was one of the most important things in the world.
"I won't, I will train harder for now own!" Kagome raised one hand though, pinky sticking out. "Promise me that we can be friends?"
Should he be her friend? She seemed okay, and she wasn't weak. Itachi-nii only had one or two friends, while he had none. If he wanted to be like Itachi-nii, he had to have friends then. Why not her then?
He linked pinkies with her, saying "Yeah!"
The two of them smiled and laughed.
They barely knew that as they continued this relationship, they would become best friends sometime down the line.
"Ah, there you two are!" Harumi came out onto the balcony, Mikoto following after her.
"We have been looking for you two for ten minutes!" Mikoto chuckled. "We are all heading in for our food now."
"Oh, I am sorry." Kagome got up and bowed, running over to Harumi to take her hand.
Sasuke too, got up and walked over to his mother to take her hand.
They sat around a huge table that sat up to a hundred people almost. The chairs were large with high backs, which made the room look even more formal.
In front of them was large golden plates with food piled on food. Thinking about some of it just made Kagome's stomach growl.
At the head of the table was Hiashi himself, next to him on his right was Harumi, on his left was Hinata. Kagome sat beside Harumi and at her other side was a Hyuga she couldn't recognize. At the other end of the table was Fugaku, at his right was Mikoto and his other side was filled by Itachi. Sasuke sat next to his mother and another Uchiha Kagome had never met, beside him. In between the two sides were a series of Hyugas, Uchihas and the silver haired people.
No one seemed to make a move for their food, all waiting for something. Kagome looked around, trying to find out what that something was, noticing that almost all eyes were on her Father.
They must be waiting for him to say something... What was it I read in an etiquette book? Oh right, a toast! Kagome shook her head, remembering how she thought a toast meant handing out sliced of crispy bread to everyone at the table. Father doesn't look like he's going to do it though... I don't want all these people to starve...
Without further thought, Kagome grabbed her cup and a fork. She stood on her chair and clanged the two together lightly. That drew all attention to her.
"Well, Hello! My name is Kagome Hyuga, and it's me and my sister's birthday." she looked around nervously. "I would like to thank all of you for coming tonight. I hope you all have fun... And I hope you all enjoy our food!"
All was silent for a momment before Harumi stood from her seat, raising her champagne glass and calling "Cheers!"
Immediately after, Mikoto stood and called cheers, followed by Sasuke and Itachi. The rest of the table stood, calling cheers. Lastly, Fugaku Uchiha stood and said his own cheers.
Everyone looked down to Hiashi, who sat there stone faced. Slowly, his chair moved back letting himself raise his body and then grab his glass. "Cheers." he nodded to the crowd. The people standing around the table all had small smiles or looks of respect as they sat down and began to eat their food.
After that, Kagome and Hinata opened the presents from each family.
From the Tashio's (the silver haired men and women), Kagome received a specially made Kimono made of silver silk, a plain black obi and a black crescent moon outline on the back. Hinata received a pair of expensive silver glass earrings in the shape of roses.
From the Uchiha's, Hinata and Kagome had each gotten Japanese silk fans, Hinata's being purple with a colorful peacock and Kagome's being silver with a red dragon on it.
From the Hyuga's, They had both received paper umbrella's. One purple with blue swirls on it and the other Blue with purple swirls on it.
Lastly, specifically from their Mother, Father and little sister, Hinata got a new tea set for she had taken up the hobby of tea making. Kagome opened up her gift to find brand new Gentle fist scrolls she could use for training.
After saying thanks to everyone, they all headed back into the ball room for dancing.
The night came to an end with Sasuke and Kagome back on the balcony explaining what kind of Ninja missions they wanted to get. Hinata with her mother dancing around her and brightening the mood. Itachi was leaning off to the side, watching as his little brother talked to the youngest birthday girl. Mikoto had gotten Fugaku to give her a dance, afterwords they had headed to talk to others. Hiashi had also stopped frowning to talk to a few of the other clan heads.
Two weeks after their birthday, six year old's Kagome Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga were entered in their first year of the Academy.
Sadly, they were split into two separate classes that year. Hinata was in a class with the blonde haired boy though, which made things better. Kagome herself was in Sasuke's class, sitting beside the Uchiha while other girls glared.
Kagome found out on the first day of school though, that she absolutely hated math class. It didn't make sense! When would you ever have to know angles? To figure out how to shoot, they say? Kagome just aimed and it was fine for her that way! She almost always got the target anyways... So why would it matter? Yes, Math was useless to her.
The teachers complimented her on her Taijutsu though. It was good to be from a Taijutsu based family every once and a while, even if it had it's downsides. Down sides like Genjutsu, something Kagome could barely master. She tried her hardest though, always staying strong like everyone told her to do.
Her teacher always separated them for half the day too, the boys going to do whatever it was they did and the girls going into the field to have their flower lessons.
While all of her class time was spent with Sasuke, all lunch periods she spent with Neji. Eating and talking. He would tell her about the odd boy who had no chakra to do Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, she would feel bad and Neji would tell her not to because he was weak. Even though her cousin told her not to, she couldn't help being nice to the boy whenever they saw each other in the halls.
At recess when she was split up from Neji, she would stay with either Hinata or Sasuke. Sitting in the shade, watching others play or going to other side of the school to practice and do some training.
She never really made other friends than Sasuke and Neji until one day at lunch when Neji wasn't at school and Sasuke was busy.
Kagome had walked outside with her bento box, trying to find a place to eat. She walked down the Academy's pathways into a small forest. She found a small place by some trees with a circle of light coming down, heating the ground. The navy haired girl sat down, deciding that the heat felt nice on her skin. Also, deciding that her food could wait, she laid down and tried to soak up some sun.
It seemed she had dozed off for a small bit of time and was woken when she heard a twig snap.
"Huh?" she looked up and saw a blurry figure standing in front of her. She quickly rubbed her eyes and sat up.
In front of her was a tall boy, most likely around Neji's age. He wore white hakuma and haori that had blur octagons scattered around it. in patterns. On his shoulder rested a large fluffy... Boa? Tail?... String? Kagome didn't know what it was, but she knew it looked soft. His ears were strangely pointed like an elf's, and his eyes were a beautiful gold. On his feet were a pair of small black boots. Looking up at his face was hard for the sun was in his face. From what she could see, he had two red stripe marks on either side of his cheeks and something blue on his forehead that she couldn't make out. His hair was long, down to his hips and was a beautiful silver. Wait, silver? Wasn't that the hair color of the Taisho's?
"Oh, I'm sorry! Am I in your spot?" she asked, worried.
"Hn." was all he said, walking over beside her and sitting down. "This Sesshomaru will sit where he pleases, even if there is a human there."
Sesshomaru? Was that his name?
"Well.. Hi, my names Kagome Hyuga!" she smiled.
"This Sesshomaru already knows that, for he had attended your birthday party a while ago." he opened up his boxed lunch and got his chop sticks ready. Then he slowly started to take pieces of his food and set them in his mouth.
So his name was Sesshomaru... And he was a Taisho!
"Sesshomaru Taisho... That's a nice name!" Kagome complimented, also opening her food and going ahead to eat some.
"Yes." was all he said.
For some time, they sat and just ate with no talking. Kagome was used to it because of her and Neji's silent suppers. Sesshomaru on the other hand was taking comfort in the girls presence, her aura was soft and soothing, almost asking him to sit and be with her.
Kagome was half-way finished her bento when she finally noticed what was on his forehead. A crescent moon.
"Oh wow! You have a crescent moon on your forehead too?" she asked and when he just cocked an eyebrow, she lifted up her bangs to show him her mark. "Look, I have one too! Though... Yours is blue and is filled in.. Why is that?"
"This Sesshomaru's is a birth mark that has been there since birth. Yours is a mark that has been put there I assume?" he told her.
"Oh. Well, Uncle Hizashi told me I was the only one who had it, so you must be right!" she giggled.
"Why are you not scared of this Sesshomaru?" he asked randomly, after a short quiet.
"Why would I? You seem nice!" Kagome smiled.
"Nice... Do you even know what this Sesshomaru is?" he looked at her curiously.
"Your just a boy, right? I mean, you seem like one." the Hyuga cocked her head to the side, confused.
"This Sesshomaru comes from the one and only demon clan left. The Taishio's are a clan made of dog demons that can take human form. We are vicious, we are murderers." he informed her.
"Oh." she looked like she was thinking for a few moments before laughing and saying, "So?"
So...? I tell her I am a killer, and the whelp says 'So?'. Sesshomaru's inner demon growled.
"I mean, that doesn't mean I should automatically hate you!" she giggled. "I think that people should be treated fairly, only changing to be rude to them if their actions aren't right. Even then, you should not be rude to people."
This girl... Deffinitley was a different one. Just like his Father had said.
"Sesshomaru, could I be your friend?" she asked.
Friend... He didn't have any of those. He didn't need any, but why did thhe thought of this girl being a friend seem so appealing? Was it the strange aura, or was it the fact that she didn't fear him despite what he was?
"Hn." was all he said, which caused Kagome to giggle.
"I'll take that as a yes?" she smiled.
Later on, they headed back to class. Surprisingly, when she said her goodbye, he replied with one of his own.
That night, she returned home to tell her mother about her new friend, Sesshomaru. Luckily, Harumi knew Sesshomaru's Step Mother and scheduled a few days where she would go over to the Taishio clan compound and play with him. Well... It was more like her playing and him watching in a pleased silence.
That was the beginning of two friendships that Kagome would keep for life.
Neji, Sasuke and Sesshomaru... Her best and only friends.
She started to play with them more and more, Harumi letting Sasuke come over on weekends, Neji and her always playing at nighttime and lastly, Sesshomaru and her spending every few lucnhes together in that warm and sunny spot.
The three boys eventually met through Kagome. None of them agreed with each other, each thinking they were Kagome's best friends. They didn't really know that Kagome loved them all equally.
The little Hyuga girl grew with those three boys, becoming protective of them as they became protective of her.
Sesshomaru became like an older brother, always there when she fell, picking her back up again. She was his closest friend and even if he didn't admit it, he cared for her, thinking of her as if she were in his pack.
Neji, who was also always there for her, would tuck her into bed when she was sick or watch over her when she was down. She started to keep her hair like his after a while, tying it back with a band near the tips. He was one of her role models.
Sasuke though... He wasn't like a brother. He was her best friend yes, but she couldn't find it in her to see him as a sibling. Instead, she stayed around him, watching over him to see if he was okay. He also did the same, being there for her when she got a cut in class or was being teased by other students.
Things were fine between the two, that was until the year fate decided to see if they really were meant to be friends... The year both of them would turn nine.