Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Loved them!

Kagome looks to be 17 and Rookie 9 are 12.

I already have the pairing set on, but there will be some one-sided love.

Enjoy!

A five year old boy walked around the hallways of his home, trying to find something to do. His brother promised to spend time with him, but it never happened.

'Aniki always breaks his promises' A pout formed on his lips.

His disappointment was soon replaced with curiosity, hearing voices coming from the entrance of the house. Two he recognized as his father and mother, but the third one was the one that perked up his curiosity.

"It's good to see you Fugaku, Mikoto." The stranger, being a female, greeted his parents.

"It's nice too see you too, Kagome-sama." That was his mother, being the kind person that she was.

"Hn." That must've been his father.

As quietly as he could, he tiptoed closer, yet he was still not able to see the person his parents were talking to.

"So… where's Itachi? The stranger asked.

"Itachi is out on a mission, he will be home later, tonight." His father answered her.

"I see…" Disappointment could clearly be heard in her voice.

"Ah, Kagome-sama! How about I introduce you to our other son?" Mikoto suggested. Kagome's disappointment immediately left, returning with excitement.

"I would love to meet him."

Mikoto smiled at her, but then turned around. "Sasuke, come here. I want you to meet someone." She spoke softly, knowing very well that he was there the whole time.

Sasuke's eyes widened, they knew he was there. Embarrassment took over and began to walk away from the wall and towards his mother, fiddling with his shirt and with his head down.

As soon as he was on everyone's view, a small gasp escaped Kagome's mouth, along with a whispered word. "Izuna." Both Mikoto and Fugaku were able to hear it, their eyes widened.

Sasuke didn't even hear anything, oblivious to the surprised stares. Shyly he walked over to his mother. "Yes, mother?"

Their surprised gazes disappeared, not wanting to scare the boy. "Sasuke, I would like you to meet Kagome-sama. Kagome-sama, this is my second son, Sasuke."

…

…

…

No one made a move to do anything, so Kagome decided to make it first. Walking towards Sasuke, she squatted to his height and stretched out her hand. "Hello Sasuke, it's nice to meet you."

Sasuke looked at the hand in surprise, slowly he lifted his head and saw something he didn't expect.

"Kirei. (Pretty)" He whispered out, which wasn't much of a whisper because everyone heard it.

Realizing what he just said out loud, a blush began to form.

Yet he began to blush even more when he saw her smile softly at him. Slowly, her hand began to go up only to stop on the top of his head.

"I think your pretty cute yourself, Sasuke." She ruffled his hair to show what she meant.

If possible, his face went even more red. "T-thank you, K-Kagome-sama."

She shook her head. "There is no need to call me as such, just call me Kagome."

He nodded his head in response. "Yes, K-Kagome."

Her smile spread even farther. "That's better. Now, tell me Sasuke, how would like to go and get some ramen with me."

"I… I would like that." He said shyly.

"Then how about we get going, it's almost lunch time and I'm starving." She said, stretching out her hand.

He shyly took her hand and nodded. She just smiled down at him.

Walking out the door, Kagome called out, "We'll be back before dinner, Mikoto, Fugaku."

Mikoto did a small bow. "Of course Kagome-sama." Fugaku merely nodded before walking away.

As they walked out of the compound and around the village they both stayed quiet, until Kagome broke it. "How about you tell me something about yourself Sasuke."

He blinked up at her in curiosity. "Like what?"

A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Hmm… your hobbies maybe."

He didn't even have to think twice about it. "I like to train with Aniki!" He expressed happily.

"Itachi?"

He nodded, but then he began to look sad. "But Aniki doesn't have time anymore. He always tells me later, but it he never does it." He paused for a second. "And he always pokes me right here ( he put a finger to his forehead) and that hurts. Aniki is weird."

Kagome giggled at his expression. "You seem to love your brother very much."

"Hai! I want to be just like him!" He gained a determined look.

"Oh… and why is that?"

"Because Aniki is really strong and smart. He's the best ninja out there. And I also want Father to notice me like he does to Aniki."

Kagome's eyes narrowed at the last part, but did not say anything about it. "Sasuke, do you truly want to be like your brother? Or do you want to be able to surpass him?"

"Surpass him?"

"Yes. Do you want to become stronger than him?"

He looked confused for a second, but then began to think. Only a couple of seconds later did he answer. "H-hai, I want to be stronger than Aniki."

She nodded back at him, accepting his answer. "Good. Don't ever try to become like your brother because sooner or later you will become nothing but a mere shadow of him."

"But… how will I become stronger?"

"You will work hard and never give up. Listen to everything they teach you in the academy and when you are old enough, I will train you myself."

He gained a skeptical look. "You will train me? But you're not a ninja."

She gave him a disappointed look. "Sasuke don't ever assume such things, just because a person looks like a civilian does not mean that they are not trained. As you grow older you will be able to distinguish between the two just by looking at them. And about me training you… how do you think your brother got so strong?"

He looked up at her, exited to hear about his brother. "How?!"

"I helped him train of course."

"Really?!" His eyes shined with admiration.

"Hai. Still hating the idea of me training you?"

He shook his head so fast that she actually thought it was going to roll off. "Never! So when will we start?

She smiled at his excitement. "Not so fast kid. You still have to graduate from the academy before we start our training."

His excitement vanished, turning into disappointment. He looked up at her and gave her something she never expected from him, the puppy eyes and to add to that, he began to pout.

Her mind was squealing, yelling on how cute he looked, but on the outside she was trying to hold her ground. Her resistance was futile, she gave in. "Fine, I will only teach you the basics, nothing else until you graduate, understood?"

He bobbed his head up and down, a huge grin plastered on his face.

She watched as he walked with a little more of a bounce in his steps, a sigh escaped her lips. "I could never resist cute things."

Crickets sang once the sun fell, the moon shining brightly in the sky.

The sound of rustling was heard in the quiet room, along with a small groan. 'Was that a dream?' Aboy asked himself. He pondered for a moment but then shook his head. 'No, that was a memory from my past. And who was that woman?' His eyes suddenly widened. 'Wait! She's the one from today!'

He sat up and frantically looked around, realizing that he was in his home, tucked into his bed. "Was the fight with Naruto a dream?" He asked himself.

"It wasn't a dream." A voice suddenly spoke up.

He immediately began looking around the room, trying to find the source. But it was impossible since the room was too dark too see at all, the only light source was the one coming from his window. Nervousness began to fill his body, he did not like feeling like this.

"Who's there!" He shouted.

Soft foot steps were heard in the corner of the room. "Is that a way to treat your elders, Sasuke." By then the figure had walked in front of the window, allowing him to see who it was.

"K-Kagome."

She merely gave him a small smile. "Looks like all you needed was a little sleep to remember who I am." She slowly began to walk up to his bed.

He didn't know what to do, too surprised by the events. He didn't even make a move when she stood on the edge of his bed.

"It's been far too long, Sasuke." She kneeled on the bed, making it creak in protest, and wrapped her arms around him.

Time passed without anyone making a move, no words were said. Finally, he began to raise his arms and hug her back. He closed his eyes and leaned into the comfort of her arms.

"I'm sorry for not being here for you all this time. For leaving you to suffer by yourself." She rested her head on top his. Trying to comfort him even more.

"Why?… Why weren't you there when it happened?!" He began to fist his hands on her yukata. "Why did you have to leave?!"

She could feel him trembling, trying to hold in his feelings. "Sasuke… nothing would've changed if I stayed. I could not have prevented it from happening."

"But…!"

"I am not a god, Sasuke. I am nothing but a mere woman."

He stayed quiet, knowing very well that she was telling him the truth. They both unwrapped their arms from each other and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Why are you here?" He questioned her.

She didn't look at him, taking in the view of the moon. "Tsunade-chan sent someone to inform me of what happened during the Chunin exams."

At her words, his hand instantly went over his neck, where the curse mark was placed. "The curse mark." He whispered out.

She nodded her head. "Yes, she believed that I would be able to remove it."

His eyes widened. "Can you?"

A sigh escaped her lips, she shook her head. "No, I can't. I am not as strong as I used to be."

When she said that, he instantly deflated.

"But… what I can do is help you control it."

He instantly turned his face towards her. "Control it?"

"The curse mark is something that will begin to control you if you use it many times. But there are ways to stop such a thing and it requires a lot of training and meditating. You will still have it, but it would be less… annoying. Almost like it was never there."

A thoughtful look crossed his face. "I see."

"That is the best I could for now, unless I find some lost scroll containing the secrets of curse mark removal, then that's all."

Everything went silent, Sasuke trying to take in the information and Kagome allowing him to.

"Ah… but that's not the only reason I'm here."

He blinked up at her in curiosity. "It's not?"

"Nop, I'm also here to fulfill my promise to you."

He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of said promise. "Promise?"

"Yes, I promised you on the first day we met that I would train, help you become stronger than your brother. Don't you remember?"

The gears in his head began to move, trying to recall such an event, which didn't take long. "I-I remember." How he could he forget, since their first meeting he never stopped persisting on the training. Every time he asked her when, she would always answer with a 'when you're older' and would ruffle his hair after that. He could vividly remember those days, the days he would follow her like a lost puppy, the days he would yearn for her attention, not wanting anyone else to become so close to her. He grew possessive of her, as a child he didn't know why only that he wanted her all to himself, but now… now he understood.

"Does that mean you're here stay, stay here with me?"

She smiled down at him. "Of course, Sasuke. I'm here to stay until you longer need me."

He lowered his head, a smirk spreading on his face, which Kagome mistook for a smile. 'I will always need you… Kagome.'