Taking Chances

Chapter 2

In the wee hours of the dawn he found himself in the hallway leading up to her room, walking in he was surprised when she slowly sat up from looking out the window. Meeting her deep blue eyes with his black almond shaped ones he didn't realize he was staring at her so openly until he heard a nurse accidentally drop her clipboard down the hall.

Realizing he should be weary of her he noticed she was just as weary if not confused looking at him. Slowly he walked until he was only a few feet from the end of her bed, not going further for his own comfort zone and partially hers. Figuring he should start things off he noticed the Anbu out the window had disappeared.

"Hello, I am Captain Yamato," he started off. "I found you outside of the village with my team, would you mind answering a few questions?"

He noted she seemed to be relaxing in her posture as her taut muscles started to go slack. She was like a rabbit ready to bolt shortly after he entered the room. Allowing her time to get comfortable he watched her give a hesitant nod. "Good, now how about your name, we couldn't find any identification papers on you?"

Papers she thought? The confusion in her eyes didn't escape his notice. "I am Kagome Higurashi," she managed to get out, her throat dry.

"Just a moment, I will get a nurse to get you some water," he turned and went to the doorway, catching a nurse. When he fully entered the room again he gave her a clear cup of water with a straw in it.

She accepted it gratefully and drank enough to swish in her mouth before swallowing. She had that odd taste in her mouth from the IV which she noticed was connected to her arm. "Thank you," she sounded out, letting him know she is ready to keep going.

"You're welcome," he replied, his voice easing up just tad bit more. "How about where you're from," he questioned.

She looked out confused at the sight that greeted her, "well, I am from the city Tokyo, but where am I?"

Tokyo? He had never heard of it and she didn't appear to recognize his village. "I'm sorry but I have never heard of it, what country is it located?"

Turning incredulous eyes to him, warning bells were starting to sound in her mind. "Well, Japan. You've never heard of Tokyo?"

His eyes narrowed a little as he considered her shocked reaction. "You're currently in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, of Fire Country," he responded to her. "I have been quite far but neither Tokyo nor Japan has crossed my ears."

Remembering her power display earlier he switched topics, having a feeling she is going to be in the interrogation unit later on. "We had seen your chakra heal your body on its own accord, would you mind explaining that to me?"

Chakra, she thought? "I'm not familiar with what chakra is but I am a priestess. I can heal wounds, purify demons, ward off bad spirts, make barriers, and other such things."

The more the questioning stretched, the odder it was coming to be. "Well, we do know about priestesses, though they are not real common here." Thinking about what else to ask he decided to see what her answer would be to the bad condition she had been in just a few days ago.

"How did you get in such bad shape?"

"I had been in a battle against demons within a jewel. When I escaped I found myself in an unfamiliar forest. I managed to start a fire before falling asleep, which is the last I remember until I woke up here." She could see him frown in thought, looking down at her hands after a few moments she quietly waited while wondering where or when is she? "Umm, what year is it?"

Blinking he responded while the gears continued to turn in his head, "5016."

Watching her eyes widen he wondered if she was coming to some kind of conclusion. "What do you call this planet?"

"Earth," he answered to her while watching her look pale, as if she could faint at any moment. "Kagome," he tested the name on his lips. "Would you please enlighten me to your thoughts? You seem to have come to a conclusion."

"I-," she stuttered. Hands wringing themselves in the hospital bed sheets. "I-," she tried again, having a hard time forming words to all the racing thoughts inside her head as her wide eyes remained unseeing.

Seeing her in obvious distress he listened and heard Tsunade at the door, watching the interaction. Needing to snap her out of it he snapped his finger in front of her face, successfully gaining her attention just as Ibiki showed up. She remained oblivious to them as she looked up at him with her raw emotions showing in her eyes. Sucking in a breath of air he steeled himself from the intensity of her unguarded gaze.

"Kagome, I need you to share with me what is obviously causing you such distress," he intoned to her. "Take a deep breath and try to focus on just answering the question," he instructed.

Listening to him she took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind as her shoulders sagged. "I'm originally from the year 2002; I travelled back in time roughly 500 years often on a quest to recover shards to a powerful jewel. When it came to the final showdown with the enemy I ended up fighting him in the jewel. It felt like a few minutes, not centuries. I guess you could say I expecting to be greeted by either my friends in the past, or my family in my time," she explained as easily as she could.

Whatever he was expecting, that certainly was not it. Eyes wide, he watched the girl try to keep it together. With the clacking of the heels, her attention was drawn to his Hokage. Just noticing her presence and the other man in the room she tensed up a little, starting to look like a rabbit ready to bolt again. The raw look of vulnerability in her eyes had given pause to everything.

Tsunade looked her over with a critical eye, closing the gap she barely paused before saying, "let me check your vitals."

Kagome nodded before sitting there stiffly, when the whole thing was over she took the IV out of her arm and bandaged it up. "Well you have a clean bill of health, quite odd seeing how you don't seem to have chakra."

"It's my understanding you had never heard of chakra," she double checked.

"Well after some thought I have but it wasn't something you heard on a regular basis. I remember it being similar to meditation. I also remember learning the 7 chakras from a monk friend of mine. He stressed that the practice of it was to keep you in good health spiritually, physically, and emotionally. That is all I can recall," she murmured hoping that maybe she can get out from under all the intense gazes.

Making her hand glow green she presented it to the priestess before her. "This is what my medical ninjutsu looks like, I use this for healing, as did my pupil and her friend used to help heal you. We use chakra to do it. I can also use my chakra to give me super human strength." Turning to Yamato she gestured for her to watch. "Show her what you can do," she ordered.

Doing a few quick signs wooden beams came from his arm, alarming the girl at first as she stared wide eyed at him, mouth practically hitting the floor as she gasped. "But how?" She asked, almost unbelieving of what she had just seen a human do.

Ibiki remained in the room watching her closely while the other two kept her attention. The safety of the village his top priority as he watched this girl and her expressions to detect any signs of deception. It was a wonder, if she really is from a past that was far beyond their time then she would need a new place to call home.

When they were done she was starting to look a bit tired. "For right now Kagome I am going to have you rest here while I get something figured out for you. I will need to have you brought to the interrogation unit so I can ensure there are no problems down the road."

"Interrogation," she squeaked out, suddenly wondering if they would let her just leave the village. "Um that's okay really; I can just find somewhere else to settle down."

Raising a brow at her she wondered if interrogation was done differently in the past. Only those that deserved it were given the roughest route but all they needed to do is validate her memories of being from times before this one. "Kagome," she addressed her, saying her name for the first time after an Anbu had passed that along to her.

Getting her attention she continued on, "this is just to validate the information you gave by looking into your memories. We do this for the safety of the village; I need to with war on the horizon."

"So I can't just go live in the wild then?"

Biting back the urge to sigh dramatically, the girl was certainly not looking forward to being interrogated. "Well if you want to be susceptible to rouge ninja and wild animals then go ahead. If you settle down in the wrong area you could get swept up into the war or be forced to flee your home. It is much safer in the village."

"Ninja can't be all that bad, right?" Looking like she was weighing her options.

"I am a ninja, all of us here, minus you are ninja. I am known as the Hokage, the leader of this village and one of the strongest ninja." She looked a bit miffed that the girl didn't seem to get she was speaking to ninja at first.

Looking them over and not seeing the black getup from the ninjas she was more accustomed to she realized that the times have really changed. The interrogation didn't sound like it would be what they did back in her time or even the one before it. With a deep sigh she gave in. "Okay, I give in. It can't be too bad living in a village of ninja right?"

She almost regretted those words later as she was escorted into the building where she would be 'interrogated.' The room she was taken to was very bare minus the tall tables and odd dome thing. Being led there she started to sweat as her nerves were beginning to get to her. When she was locked in several people filtered into the room, standing at the table.

With the instruction of the tall blonde guy she relaxed and between that moment and the next she went blank as her mind was invaded by them. They dug through her memories for a few hours, by the time she left it was almost evening and she felt spent. She was then escorted to Lady Tsunade at the Hokage Tower. She was almost swaying on her feet when she got there; trying to stay alert as the Hokage read the report she was given.

"Really, this is fascinating. Maybe someday you would be open to talking to me about your life before coming here. For now I have a few ideas to help you out. I could have you help out as a teacher's aide at our academy. I could also use another nurse at the hospital if you pass the test, and there are some civilian jobs out there. For now I have an apartment ready for you to move into." Watching her nod, it was clear the girl was barely hanging in there.

"We can talk about the rest of that later, Captain Yamato will show you to your new home, welcome to the village Priestess Kagome," she said finally.

After that she found herself walking silently next to the ninja Yamato. She was curious but right now she was more tired than curious. He led her down the streets in a respectable silence; he seemed to know exactly where they are going. Looking around she was starting to pick up the differences between the ninja and the civilian's, getting a feel for the new energies. Spreading her senses out she was surprised at how many she could pick up on.

People watching just might become her new favorite hobby she thought until she realized the civilians really were not a whole lot different from ordinary people in her time and the one before that. 'I suppose I should call it 'ninja watching,'' she thought with a giggle.

Yamato took a sidelong glance at her, wondering what she could be giggling about. Not seeing anything around that he would find amusing he supposed her thoughts were probably running away with her. As tired as she was he could tell she had been used to having long days such as this one if only for the fact she was still alert and keeping pace with him while fighting off the fatigue.

Turning his attention back to ahead of them he noticed the building they were gaining on. Thankfully it would be the final destination. Leading her up the stairs and into the slight hallway he stopped outside the door. "We are here Kagome," he informed her, bringing her back to the matter at hand.

"Thank you Captain Yamato for everything," she bowed with a small smile on her lips.

"It was really nothing, I'm just glad we came across you when we did," he responded back. "Should you need anything my place is right here," he pointed to the door behind them.

"Oh, so we are neighbors then?" She asked, sounding a bit hopeful.

"Yes, so I guess if you need a cup of sugar," he jested.

"I will know where to go," she finished with a grin before pulling out her key and sticking it in the lock and twisting. Opening the door she looked over her should at him. "Goodnight, I hope to see you around."

"I'm sure you will, goodnight Kagome," he imparted before pulling out his own key and watching her shut the door. Part of him wondered if he was nuts for suggesting the spot but after the smile she just gave him he wondered if he had a chance with her.