Summary: A miniature Sasuke, a gorgeous and conspicuous miko from a mysterious country, a depressed Uchiha, plus amnesia, believe it, you got a love triangle.
This story is being categorized as crossover, but the funny thing is I didn't know how to find it (other than using the search engine .). I went into both the Inuyasha achieve and Naruto achieve, then Mics, then community, etc… totally missing the Crossover section in Inuyasha (and Naruto) achieve. I almost wrote a PM to ask some of my reviewers how to find my story. Really, it might become the joke of the day if I really did that…
I agree with demonpriestess5011, it sucks to be Sasuke =.=; The "faceless husband" obviously was Itachi, all that is left for discussion is whether he recognized the Konoha bunch or not. But you must read to find out, can't spill the secret yet, neh ^^
The following days, highly motivated, the two teams each went on their way to carry out their mission. They were able to gather quite a lot of information, as well as encountered some really interesting Tsukigakure inhabitants, though some missing details prevented them from piecing everything together for sensibility sake and when accompanied by a premonition of bad omen, it frustrated Sasuke to no end.
xxx
The first day went by pretty much uneventful with Sasuke and Sakura. They only knew that Kagome was fine and resting with her Itachi. Everything in the household was run by that Kikyo woman whom was just as mysterious as the Higurashi matriarch. The servants and maids had been keeping their gossips to the minimum and disappointingly unforthcoming with anything concerned their employers.
Fortunately, Naruto and Neiji had more luck in talking with the local merchants (after buying tons of weapons and souvenirs and such). According to what they had heard so far, the legends apparently were telling the truth. This village came all the way back to Sengoku Jidai and had never been (unwillingly) involved in any war. However, what baffled them the most was an outrageous event that had nothing to do with the legends and everything to do with the peculiarity of this village.
They were walking around in the marketplace with no luck whatsoever in getting any useful information when a child ran up to them. Strangely enough, instead of normal human ears, on the top of her head laid two fox ears, which looked unnaturally realistic. She gave Naruto a bunch of flowers and a toothy grin: "Welcome to Tsukigakure, onii san."
Then a woman gracefully strode to their place, gently admonished the little girl: "you shouldn't have run off like that. And don't bother unfamiliar men."
"But he is a kitsune, mama, he will like those flower, just like papa."
The girl's innocent reply stupefied the two. Had hell frozen over for there was no way, and they meant no possible way, a normal, sane civilian (lest alone a girl) dared to approach a jinchukiri on her own. That and the fact that she knew what he was at first glance was extremely alarming. Just what kind of a village is this? Right at that moment, a familiar figure quickly walked towards two flabbergasted shinobi, happily called out their names: "Naruto, Neiji!!!"
Seeing Shippo, the little girl's eyes brightened considerately: "Papa!"
Smirking proudly, the mischievous man tenderly picked up his daughter: "You have given your mother quite a hard time, didn't you, kit?"
Giving him the puppy eyes, she whined: "I only gave that man a bunch of flowers. He is a kitsune; he'd love it, like you, right?"
"Not every kind of kitsune love flowers and he isn't exactly one"
"Darling…," the woman began hesitantly, intending to stop her husband.
"Don't worry, Shiori chan, Sesshoumaru sama agreed to let these shinobi know some of the facts about our village," obviously, the some part was deliberately stressed, "This is one of those," he smiled reassuringly at her, paying no heed to the confusion apparent on their guests' face.
The day was getting more and more bizarre. It was even creepier when ears, wings and tails, even horns, suddenly grew everywhere on the head of the people around them, right after Shippo's explanation. Seeing that everyone went on with business nonchalantly and judging from the conversation that they had just heard, the shinobi realized that whatever appearance the civilians had let them see until then was just some really advanced genjutsu. Looking around them then, they saw hairs with various colors, beings with appearance more like animals than human and weapons that no normal human (and a majority of ninja) could not possibly wield (like a huge boomerang, for example).
"What's the meaning of this? What are they? What are you?" trusted Naruto to be the master of the "ask first, think later" tactic.
Smirking rather devilishly at them, Shippo made a gesture like a performer about to show his best trick: "Isn't that obvious? We are not normal human, you should have realized that much. Our village is the only place you can find real youkai, hanyou, taijiya, miko and houshi."
"What do mean youkai? Aren't the bijuu the last youkai to walk this plane?" Neiji questioned, ever the cynic.
"The bijuu are only the enraged youkai who had been provoked or controlled somehow by human," a knowing glance was thrown to Naruto ,"or too stupid and far gone in their youkai state that they lost their logical thinking. Human has become ignorant if they think that real youkai was all like the bijuu," Shippo snorted.
"So Kagome is a youkai, too" Naruto tentatively asked, already worried for Sasuke.
"Well, nee chan is special. One can say that she is a miko but it's not completely wrong to say she is youkai. I wonder why," smirking rather challenging at the two, he pivoted with his daughter in his arms, the silver haired woman by his side.
"Oh, and before I forgot, our Kage wishes to see you four tomorrow morning and I will take you to his office. Please make yourselves presentable."
Knowing there was nothing else they could find there, Naruto and Neiji wearily went back to the Higurashi manor, telling the other two what they had found.
xxx
The next morning came too quickly for some. The bird was chirping noisily in total contrast to those occupied the dining room. They couldn't help but feel anxious and quite curious, not knowing what to expect of the mysterious and no doubt powerful leader. In addition, Kagome was nowhere to be found while Itachi was said to have gone back to training in the palace's dojo.
Naruto looked around: Sakura was constantly tugging on her clothes, Neiji had a pensive look on his face while Sasuke looked like he was daydreaming. Yeah, right, when hell had frozen over. But the Uchiha was actually having a faraway look, no doubt thinking about the one and only Kagome. Naruto couldn't help but heave a sign. In this unfamiliar land, they couldn't afford to lose concentration and fantasizing about another man's wife was hardly the most righteous thing to do, under any circumstance. It didn't help that the aforementioned man bore the taboo name, Itachi. What if they were the same person? After all, no one had ever managed to retrieve Itachi's dead body, so the possibility was still there. Nah, as much an arrogant, selfish jerk his best friend had been, he had done nowhere near enough misdeeds to receive such irony, hadn't he? Naruto wasn't so sure, in Tsukigakure, anything could happen, he had learned. But that worrisome thought wasn't his priority at the moment, so he put it in the back of his mind, ignoring the gut wrenching feeling in his stomach. If only he had listened to his instinct…
All of that musing was in the morning. Now, at they stood in the Kage office, the sun had risen over their head, or so they guessed. Although at that moment, time was the farthest thing from everyone's mind. In front of them stood a man, no, a being with the power of god. Technically, the devil maybe nearer to the truth since it was obvious that this creature was some sort of youkai, what with his silver hair, pointed ears, deadly claws and the otherworldly grace that demanded the utmost respect. If the presence of Kagome's husband had made them stay on their guard and prepare to defense should he attack then this youkai's aura pretty much crushed their fighting spirit. Even Kyuubi cowered before this power, or more like this being, since the fox seemed to recognize the Nidaime of Tsukigakure, Naruto noted curiously. This was turning out to be one intriguing meeting. The Kage took one look and dismissed Sakura, deeming her no threat. A raised eyebrow at Neiji, but other than that, nothing was said. He had stared intensely at Naruto and said "Interesting company you got!" The hidden meaning was so subtle that if it hadn't been for the knowing glance thrown his way, Naruto wouldn't have noticed. Curiously enough (or maybe not, depending on one's view), Sesshoumaru had paid extra attention to Sasuke. A tilt of his mouth made up a sarcastic smirk.
"It's never ceased to amaze this Sesshoumaru that the Uchiha men are always the ones notice and dare to reach for the most precious but dangerous jewel. However, boy, you are still bound by the invisible chains human created to tie their own hands, still too wrap up in your own head that you do not have what it take to get what you want. Pitiful!"
Sasuke had immediately demanded an explanation in strained politeness, unsuccessfully, of course. Then, everyone went on to discuss the term of the alliance, the rules that they were expected to followed, the length they could go to obtain information, etc… nothing out of ordinary. Nevertheless, when they were leaving, Naruto was certain that he had caught a faint whisper that sounded suspiciously like :"just like his brother" It worried him immensely, for it once again brought back his earlier doubts. But as the other three didn't hear anything, it might have been his imagination, Naruto fervently hoped.
xxx
A week later, they had been able to gather enough information to understand the overall history of Tsukigakure. According to the books in Higurashi library and some of the friendlier, unassuming old folks, centuries ago, there was a time called the Dark Age. The country was plagued by an evil force. Strengthened by some mystic artifact, the evil continued to terrorize the land and its inhabitants, until one day, a group of fighters bravely stood up to him. They fought courageously and triumphed over the devil then each went on their own way to create legends. There had been stories about a tragic love between an inu hanyou and a miko, a heart wrenching story about siblings love between two taijiya, the long standing rivalry between two inu brothers, the fearsome monk said to be able to vanquished hundreds youkai without any ofuda or weapon, the joining of two powerful warriors that made up a prestigious clan, the adventures of a young fox, etc… However, they were all connected through one miko and after ten years, they gathered around her once again to create Tsukigakure, a place where no civil conflict had ever occurred. The ninja found the legend hard to believe, although it might contain some fact. They suspected that this so call history had been idealized somehow since an ever peaceful land was the definition of utopia, in their minds.
"You know, I think these legends mean to tell us that there had been a great war once and the founders of this village were those emerged victorious from it. They reunited the country and have been keeping a tight reign on their people ever since to prevent another great war like the last and all rebellions was squashed before having any chance to grow into a civil war. Their contributions were so great that the people began to weave stories and legends around them. That's the only logical explanation," wisely intone Sakura.
The other three agreed with her, though their concerns lay not in the legends and its past protagonists but in the present and the upcoming festival. The other day, Shippo had told them that to celebrate the foundation of Tsukigakure and to show their gratitude to the great founders (a strange smirk had appeared on his face then), the villagers had decided on their own (he snickered at this) to made September the month of festivals. Through out the whole month, many activities would be held, from martial art tournaments to masked dancing night, from formal ceremonies to bustling streets with many shops only opened at this time of the year. Sakura was thrilled about the opening of that many special shops while the men' main interests lain with the tournaments. According to what they had heard, whoever won the tournament would be able to present a crown made of flowers to the one girl he loved (Sakura was really looking forward to this, as were many other girls). Since their girls were back at Konoha, Naruto and Neiji didn't care much for the reward (although they might ask Shippo for someway to send the crown back home), they were more interested in participating for the chance to fight some worthy opponent and gauging the potentials of this village. The most determined to win this tournament, however, was Sasuke. He had heard the maids whispered to one another that their master was going to participate and would definitely win another crown for their lady. Sasuke couldn't help but envisaged what would happen should he beat her husband, the Itachi, and give her the crown. No matter how powerful the Higurashi was, Itachi Higurashi wouldn't be able to do anything if Kagome fell in love and left him for Sasuke. He wouldn't be able to stop her, she was the Nidaime's little sister, after all. The incident would make a delicious scandal, one would eventually leave his name in the book and get him his dream girl. At this moment, Sasuke was passed caring for the consequences of his action and obsession. The close proximity and the long days with just glimpses of Kagome and some short conversations with her only served to strengthen his yearning for the woman to the point of not concerning himself with the possibility of a war with Tsukigakure. So sure of his skills, so enamored with the ideal future he imagined, Sasuke didn't even stop to consider the probability of Itachi was not the one originally carry the surname of Higurashi. If he had, he would have gained another insight to the web of hidden truths that was the Higurashi clan and the nature of the bond between their patriarch and matriarch. If he had, he could have caught on to Naruto's earlier worry, but alas, he hadn't. If only he had,…
xxx
Finally, here came the first day of September. Morning had come to see the Higurashi household in an organized chaos. Servants and maids ran around doing their assigned chores, the chief and cooks outdid themselves with tons of delicious food, splendid even by Uchiha standard. The day before, the house had been swarmed by seamstresses and shopkeepers trying to persuade the lords and ladies of the house, as well as their guests, to wear and use their products. It seemed whatever the Higurashi, or at least lord Shippo Higurashi , used became the fashion of the year. The street outside was in the same state, only less organized. The adults frantically ran about, applying the last touch to ready their shops for the festival started from that night, children restlessly waited for the opening ceremony, wearing their best kimono and other traditional clothes. Many people had come to the village for this festival. The shinobi had met many interesting people, one of which was the Kage's younger half brother and Kikyou's husband, Inu Yasha. He was a gruff and loud mouthed inu hanyou who seemed to have a special bond with Shippo so it was really a wonder he got along well with Naruto, they were both too loud mouthed for either the Hyuuga or the Uchiha's taste. Then there was Kouga who was introduced as a dear friend of the Higurashis and that his clan was one of the founders of Tsukigakure. Much to Sasuke's annoyance, this youkai kept calling Kagome his woman, but no one did anything about it (with the exception of Inu Yasha that is).
Some of the houses, unused at other times of the year was now filled with people from other parts of the country. One house in particular had caught their eyes: the house with the insignia of a boomerang crossed with a staff. This house, a week or so before the festival, became crowded with people wearing the same clothes at those resided in that village which gave them one hell of a time when they first came to this country. They all either wore taijiya clothes, a skin tight black suit with different colors, or tradition monk's clothes. Another intriguing house was the one that bore the emblem of a claw, which became full of wolves, and strangely enough, not the normal one but the giant wolves they had seen on their way here.
Night came to Tsukigakure. Unlike the morning, every noise had subsided in anticipation. The streets were all well-lit with rows of lantern and some kinds of multi-coloured fire. Even the children kept quite, sat still waiting for the appearance of their beloved leaders. The four Konoha nins were also in their formal clothes, the men in their black haori while Sakura had donned her pink kimono. They were impressed to see that in spite of the festivities going on, the security was just as tight as normal, if not more. Tonight, the only indication of a festival going on was that the guards, still fully armed, had taken the liberty to wear colored uniform with their clan's insignias.
Suddenly, the crowd parted, give way to Sesshoumaru and his entourage. For this night, the Nidaime of Tsukigakure had taken upon himself to wear clothes that looked exactly like he did in Sengoku Jidai, but the shinobi didn't need to know that. The youkai glowered with an ancient power, looked every part like a feudal lord. With simple words and a monotonous voice no louder than normal, he gave the permission for the festival to start. Even if the way he dressed, his stance, the respect he received from his people could gave an insight to the Nidaime's characters and powers, it was apparent that Sasuke was bewitched, not by the ruthless leader, of course, but by his sister. For tonight, Kagome had decided to wear her green and white miko garb, with her hair in a low pony tail tied by a red ribbon. She was the image of tranquility, peace and elegance, once again reminded Sasuke that in this country, Kagome was considered royalty. Her easygoing nature and that unassuming attitude had led everyone to dismiss the notion but now, more than ever, when the Uchiha had seen her grace, her nobility and her qualities of a gently bred lady, no one else would ever be worthy to stand by his side and he would make sure that no one would hers. After all, what an Uchiha wants, he gets, right?
After the opening ceremony, everyone really got into the festive atmosphere. Fireworks, games, presents, foods, etc… anything that made up a festival could be found there. It was hard to get Kagome alone to talk, what with the throngs of people waiting to pay her respect and seek her advices, or simply just to bask in her presence and receive her blessings, but the ninjas managed. However, hardly did their conversation last more than fifteen minutes when Kagome was called away by her husband. Anxious and determined to prove once and for all that Itachi Higurashi wasn't his brother and was a worthy opponent in the race for Kagome's heart, Sasuke followed her discreetly in order to catch a glimpse of the luckiest man in the world, in his opinion. Unfortunately, Shippo coincidentally (or maybe not) chose that exact moment to come and have some idle chit chat with the Konohans, effectively held them off. When he finished, Kagome was nowhere to be seen. So concentrated on glaring at the kitsune, Sasuke missed what the others didn't: ravenous hair, pale skin, deep worry line and of course, the unmistakable Sharigan. But that was just impossible, right? That man should have been dead. It had to be their nerves and the genjutsu that had driven them crazy, for there was no way Itachi could be well and alive, and smiling like that. The three took a moment to glance at one another and when they looked up, the Itachi look alike had gone, just like a fragment of imagination. They didn't dare to alert Sasuke, instead scanning the crowd for the familiar face, to no avail. By the end of the night, they had successfully willed themselves to believe that they were just tired and coincidently saw one similar image. Yep, nothing to be worry over so there was no need to tell Sasuke, hopefully…
xxx
Three days after the opening night saw the beginning of the tournament. This was one of the main events of the festival so everyone participated had to defeat their opponent without killing him. In additional, to prevent later hostilities and be fair, each contestant was to wear a mask to conceal his identity. Everyone's name but the winner's would only be known to the committee and the matches order was decided by drawing number. For the last four hundred years, everything had worked well this way with only minor problems. And so, the tournament continued to be held in the same way this year, although it ended far from peacefully…
Just as expected, they met many strong opponents with spectacular power. Instead of chakra, fighters in this country use other kinds of energy: reiki, youki, miko ki or pure physical strength as well as monstrously huge weapons. Some of them used huge boomerang, some had formidable swordsmanship while others showed impressive controls of natural elements: water, fire, lighting, plants, etc... There were also masters of illusion participated in the tournament. Naruto was able to last until the quarter final round, but then he was beaten by some guy who used fire and illusion while that guy lost to another who controlled plant. Neiji was also disqualified for the semi final, lost to some one who was extraordinarily skilled with his katana and had speed that put Lee to shame. Sakura did well to defend herself against a man with impressive taijutsu and another one of those huge boomerangs (personally, the guys thought she blew her top when the opponent asked her to bear his child), but in the end, she also lost. So, the only one from the team that still in was Sasuke and his opponent was a man with a tengu mask. Before that, Sasuke had defeated another one with a demonic sword that could easily cut the ground into half. Really, the man was very powerful but totally tactless, headed straight for the unknown, much like Naruto in his younger day. The fight was somewhat an easy win when Sasuke knew not to go anywhere near that sword.
Nevertheless, Sasuke and his team knew better than underestimating this opponent. He had cold calculating eyes, a deceptively calm demeanor and a confidence that bordering arrogance (much like a certain Uchiha). Then there was his strange stance, a classic taijutsu beginning stance with some adjustments for practical purpose. It seemed effective for both defense and offense purpose though weak, yet there was something similar to the style of fighting Gai would use, so very curious indeed. After the signal was given, the fight started. Sasuke rushed forward while went through the hand seal for Chidori, intending to end the match as quickly as possible. However, his opponent seemed to have anticipated this move. He simply side stepped then disappeared, using speed that even the Sharigan and Byakugan had trouble following and reappeared behind Sasuke, blocked his move and delivered a kick. The Uchiha was out of the stage, thus lost by the rules. Not a very satisfied match since neither of the opponents had used all their strength but judging by the ways things had been, the result might as well be the same.
Enraged and disappointed, Sasuke stalked out of the crowd, uncaring of the final matches and completely missed the announcement of the winner. He only fumed and berated himself silently when some of the villagers cheerfully gossiped that the champion was once again one Itachi Higurashi, made that four years winning in row for the Higurashi patriarch and that Kagome was one lucky lady. The other three, though, were not so fortunate. Sakura could feel her jaw went slacked the moment the champion took off his mask and presented the crown to his lady: he was none other than Itachi Uchiha. True, they had not come across each other that often, but one just not forgets Itachi, long time or not. Plus, if the expression on Naruto was not enough a testament then she didn't know what is. If it was possible, his face got paler and paler, and when everyone thought it couldn't be more bleached, it rapidly changed into a fine example of a tomato and then a balloon, until he exploded: "WHAT??"
His volume made many people instinctually covered their ears and heatedly glared at him, even though the blond didn't give a damn. He just promptly, well, fainted. Sakura felt like rolling her eyes, exasperated beyond anything. Trusted Naruto to faint like some girly girl when under a little pressure, okay, maybe not very little, but still, the point was it was just like him to faint while others expected him to let his mouth run off. Or maybe he planned on doing both. Sakura shuddered at that. Anyway, back to their main problem. On one hand, they got an emotionally unstable Sasuke, who was like an explosive tag that might blow off everyone and everything if triggered, not to mention his newly developed obsession. On the other hand, they got an ex ANBU captain gone Akatsuki who was revealed to be one of Konoha's most loyal shinobi after his supposed death, now appeared out of nowhere under a completely different identity and had a wife and a son, for God's sake. Oh and don't forget, Naruto was of no help in his delirious state. A quick glance at Neiji finalized their immediate course of action: they were going to keep quiet, make Naruto keep quiet and made sure no pictures, words or anything related to this outrageous truth reached Sasuke, at least not until they fully understood the situation. There were question that needed to be answer, too, the most important of which had to be why in seven hells Itachi was still alive? Why didn't he come back to Konoha? Why didn't he tell them who he was the moment they met? And why was his name Itachi Higurashi? Oh, and the biggest one, how the hell would the shinobi carry out their mission if things got complicated like this? Really, Sakura and Neiji started to suspect that Naruto fainted on purpose, in order to avoid the headache of their lives coming and tempted to do the same. They really did.
So caught up in their inner turmoil that the two remaining shinobi did not notice the amused twinkle in the Tsukikage's eyes. Things started to get more and more interesting, just as he thought it would the moment he granted the Konoha nin permission to gather information on their own. After all, one was bound to get bored after centuries of doing paper work and so, one had to seek some kind of entertainment, even at the expense of one's own sister. This sentiment might only be shared by one kitsune, though he preferred to keep his thoughts to himself, for the time being anyway.
Thank you very much, minna. Please review and tell me what you think of this.
Thank for reviewing Kage Otome, Naturaly DISTURBED, Eriklover101, xXiforeveriXx, angelfire123, LeafeKnight7, kagome1oo, ShioriHououEmaku, LuLuCrazeD, 4get me not, ayashi77, demon prince-sesshoumaru, demonpriestess5011, MariisCa, merlyn1382, Bloodcherry, Dragon of blood, Kenjo and everyone who has put this story and me in their favourite/alert lists. Your reviews and support are greatly appreciated. I hope the second chapter didn't disappoint you.
I'm sorry if any of you had been looking forward to the fighting scenes. I want to focus on the romance (although I might have wandered far from that path) and I'm suck at writing those scenes even though I've read my fair share of those. The same goes for lemon. So, anybody wants to guess who fought against Naruto and Neiji? Note that reiki, youki are used and they do not necessarily have to come from Naruto or Inuyasha universal.