Chapter Two

"Have a nice day at the Academy nii-san."

Naruto inwardly groaned as he finished putting on his blue sandals. 'Don't look, don't look.' He chanted as he turned towards the huge wooden doors of the Namikaze estate. He cracked one blue eye open and deflated. Sure enough, his sister was standing by the door, giving him the puppy-dog eyes she knew he couldn't resist.

"Kagome-chan, you know Tou-san would skin me alive if I let you set one foot outside." Naruto sighed, rubbing his head awkwardly. "We've gone through this since I started the Academy last year." The blue eyed girl stared at an invisible speck on the ground and shuffled her feet. "I know Naru-nii, I just w-wanted to w-wish you luck on your first d-day back to the Academy."

Naruto ruffled Kagome's hair affectionately and her watery blue eyes met his. "Don't worry Kago-chan, I'll tell you all about my day and even show you the new jutsus I learn!" And with that, he left out the door. Something Kagome had been forbidden to do.

The young girl sighed and wandered to the enormous library near her room. No one understood her, she thought. No one knew that the only reason Kagome stood by the door whenever someone was leaving, was because for the small span of time that it was open, she could glimpse outside.

Sure, she could go behind the house, where a large herbal garden, a medium sized lake, and two large training grounds were located and play. her Aunt Tsunade made enough snacks to last her a month, let alone a couple hours and she had every toy she could ever want, but the enormous walls surrounding the estate made the five year old feel suffocated.

Her home was in reality, a prison.

Neither she, nor her twin brother understood why she wasn't allowed to go outside. Her Aunt Tsunade, Uncle Jiraiya, as well as her Tou-san said it was for her protection. That evil ninja would try and kidnap her if they knew she existed.

This was why Naruto wasn't allowed to speak a word or give any hints about Kagome. His friends from the Academy weren't allowed to come over to play, which was understandable considering his father was the Hokage. That was his excuse everytime.

But Kagome saw that as unfair. There was a fair chance that Naruto could get kidnapped by enemy shinobi as well, maybe even more so since he hadn't learned to be more aware of his surroundings. Unlike her dense brother Naruto, Kagome had nothing more to do but read the many scrolls her father kept in the library to pass the time by.

She spent hours trying to hone her skills, in hopes that she would prove to her Tou-san that she was capable of defending herself. 'I'm his baby girl,' Kagome thought bitterly as she climbed into her favorite red plush chair. The raven haired girl opened her choice scroll, and soon lost herself in the fundamentals of chakra control.

Familiar chakras woke Kagome up and she massaged the crick in her neck before hopping out the chair. She dashed to the front door, a huge smile on her face as the door opened and she was scooped into a bone-crushing hug. "Aunt Tsunade!" Kagome cried and the blond woman smiled warmly.

"Guess what Hime? Your tou-san has something he wants to tell you." Tsunade winked before glaring at Minato. The Hokage seemed to wilt under Tsunade's stare before clearing his voice. "Musume, how would you like to go to Sunagakure with Tsunade for a week?" He asked.

Kagome nearly bowled over Minato as she hugged his legs tightly. "I'd love to go!" She yelled, her heart swelling. She was finally going to go outside! Meanwhile, Minato tried to hold back a whimper of pain before pointing at Tsunade with an accusatory finger.

"You've been teaching Kagome that crazy strength of yours, haven't you?" He growled. Tsunade laughed nervously before prying Kagome off her father and tugging her to the kitchen. "Come on Hime, lets cook some dinner before your brat of a brother comes home."

Minato caught up several minutes later when his blood circulation went back to normal.

Kagome's breath was taken away as the gates of the Village Hidden in the Sand loomed overhead. Tsunade smiled at her reaction before getting her pass back from the guard and pulling Kagome inside the village.

A bright grin lit up the girl's features as she looked back and forth rapidly, trying to take in the sights. They were on the main road, and so vendors of all different sorts lined the sides, each trying to persuade them to buy something.

There were small trinkets, multi colored beads, delicacies like grilled lizard tongue, clothing from different parts of the world, all stuff Kagome had read about. But nothing described in a book or scroll could compare to actually seeing it in real-life. But what really caught her eye was a cream and black cat sitting in a cage next to a vendor. It had a small diamond on its forehead and blood colored eyes. But what really made the cat unique was that instead of one tail, it had two.

Kagome was drawn out her observations by Tsunade pulling on her cloak. The busty blonde didnt need Kagome getting lost, especially during high noon on a market day. Minato was already an overprotective mother when it came to the kids, there was no need to get his panties in a twist because she lost one of his "precious babies."

Tsunade cooked stir-fry that night and even though she was tired, Kagome didn't want to go to sleep. She was too busy looking at the stars and thanking them for making her wish come true.

The next morning, Tsunade took Kagome to the Kazekage Tower and told her that since she couldn't watch Kagome while she was working, the Kazekage's brother-in-law had agreed to babysit her. Apparently, he also watched the Kazekage's children as well.

This made Kagome nervous. She'd never interacted with someone outside her family. Would they like her? They got off the elevator at the top floor and as the door opened, Kagome saw there was a blond man along with three children.

While Kagome was not as outgoing and loud as her twin brother, she wasn't exactly a wallflower either. However, the young girl found herself tongue tied and, much to her later embarrassment, clinging to Tsunade's green outer coat as the bigger two of the three children peered at her curiously.

"Ah, welcome Tsunade-sama. Im guessing that the shy girl next to you is Kagome-chan?" The blond man asked kindly. Tsunade nodded and gently pried Kagome off of her and pushed her forward. "Yes, this is my niece Kagome. Kagome, this is Yashamaru. He's going to take care of you while Im at the hospital."

Kagome fiddled with the hem of her sky blue shirt and for some reason couldn't look in Yashamaru's eyes. There was something…. crazy about him, like he didn't have all his marbles which is what Tsunade accused Jiraiya of all the time.

"I'm sorry about the loss of your mother Kagome-chan." He said sympathetically and Kagome nodded. Just like she had been instructed all her life, no one was to know she was the Hokage's daughter except for a select few. The bad guys might get her.

Tsunade kissed Kagome's forehead before leaving and Yashamaru introduced the children behind him before leaving to make lunch for them all. The two oldest, Temari and Kankurou, soon decided that the quiet girl wasn't interesting so they too left to their rooms. Only the youngest boy, Gaara, was left and he hadn't looked up from the floor since she got there.

"Ano…do you want to go play or something?" Kagome asked softly and the boy flinched violently. Kagome inwardly panicked, had she done something wrong? Her breath caught in his throat as pale jade eyes rimmed in black locked with her own sapphire ones. "You… r-really want to play with me?" He stuttered and Kagome tried to think of what her brother would do.

"Dattebayo! Of course I do!" She cried suddenly, pumping her fist in the air. The boy blinked at her rapidly and Kagome deflated. Did Naruto get the same reaction when he did it? Suddenly, Gaara's face broke out into a huge smile and Kagome's eyes widened.

"You're so cute!" She exclaimed, glomping the boy and making them both fall to the ground. Gaara's face turned as red as his hair and Kagome squeezed him even harder. "Come on Gaara-kun, to the playground!" Kagome declared, yanking him off the ground and dragging him to the elevator.

If it was possible, Gaara's face turned even more red at the affectionate addition to his name and his eyes bulged as Kagome jumped on him again as the elevator doors closed. Gaara made a note to himself as he laid on the floor slowly being squeezed to death:

Make sure all cute things are safely hidden for their own protection when Kagome's around.

Wow, nineteen reviews for my first chapter! Thank you everyone for your support, I nearly cried! But as you can see, since Kagome been raised at home her whole life, so she's uncomfortable dealing with people outside her family (at first) and this is really going to manifest itself more later on in the story.

Secondly, KagomexItachi won! Sorry everyone but majority has asked for it. If you really want me to, I'll try to sneak in a KagomexSasuke or a KagomexGaara oneshot (for now), if you want me to. Or whatever pairing you want that I feel comfortable writing.

Thirdly, most likely my updates will be weekly. I do have a busy life, and im taking higher level college classes during high school as well as working a job so if I dont update as quick as I said, please dont be at me harshly.

Your reviews channel my imagination,

-Verdant