Chapter 11: The Herbalist
It had only been a day since Koichi Uchiha had told Kakashi and the Sandaime about Kagome Higurashi. They both promised that they wouldn't tell anyone else about her. Kakashi had a hard time processing everything. He knew that Kagome was a very strong kunoichi when he first tested her in the bell test. But her eye technique, Eye of the Priestess, made him very curious. He couldn't figure out if she inherited it or created it. It was quite a mystery to him. Her summons also made him curious as well. He knew that the nine tailed kitsune was responsible for the death of their comrades. He thought that all yōkai were merciless killers and had no hearts.
I realized that yōkai have the same emotions as us, humans. They can love, fear, hate, and grieve. They fight to protect their loved ones and some fight for power.
That's what Koichi had said about yōkai. Maybe he should meet one of them. Perhaps his opinion might change.
Two Days Later:
Kagome, Naruto, Kirara, and Hana were getting ready for their mission. A B-rank mission to be exact. The upside of it, they weren't bringing Sasuke or Sakura along. Which was a relief to them. But they had to bring Kakashi-sensei with them. Protocol to be most precise. At least, Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't know about it. To make things more interesting, Iruka-sensei was coming along. He was confused at first when he was requested to go on the mission by Koichi and the Sandaime. But Koichi convinced him that he needed to get out of the village once in awhile. Then he agreed to come when he heard that Hana Higurashi was going on the mission.
The mission was to bring back a few herbs from a herbalist's garden. Hana needed more herbs for her garden. But the journey there, is no picnic. It would take about a day and a half to get those herbs. The person she gets it from lives in a place where even robbers can't get to. The only other problem is that the person never leaves her sanctuary. So in other words, they have to go to her. But Hana knew a shortcut around those dangers.
The four of them waited for Iruka and Kakashi to show up at the gates. Truth be told, they were all excited about this mission.
"Ohayo!" Iruka shouted as he and Kakashi met up with the rest of the team.
"Ohayo." Hana said, a small blush appeared on her cheeks when she saw Iruka. A small blush also appeared on Iruka's cheeks when he spotted Hana. Kakashi, Kagome, Kirara, and Naruto could tell that there was something going on between them. Kakashi had finally figured out why Iruka was on this mission with them. He should have figured it out sooner.
"So, is everyone ready?" Kagome asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Hai!" Naruto said, pumping his fist in the air.
"So who is this person we're going to see, Hana?" Kakashi asked. After at least an hour on the road, Kakashi was curious about the person they were going to meet.
"Her name is Ayame. She knows all kinds of plants that can be used for medicine and teas. She has the most rarest plants as well. But she rarely leaves her sanctuary. So I always have to go to her when I need some new herbs." Hana said.
"I see. So she's a hermit." Kakashi said.
"Of a sort." Hana said, scratching her cheek.
"How come she doesn't leave her sanctuary, Hana-chan?" Iruka asked, curious.
"I'm afraid that I don't know. There are some things that she didn't tell me about herself." Hana said, "But I'm sure that she has her reasons for doing so."
"If you say so." Kakashi said, shrugged with his hands in his pockets. He was very curious about this herbalist. He wondered how no one knew about her and how Hana came across her.
Kagome recognized that name from anywhere. There was only one person she knew who knew about plants and had the same name. It belonged to a certain white wolf princess she knew back in the feudal era.
It was midday when they started walking through a forest. Then they stopped when they stood in front of a shrine gate. Behind the gate stood a giant rock wall that was taller than the gate. They walked past the gate and stood in front of the rock.
"We came all this way, just to see a rock wall?" Kakashi asked, his brow arched. Iruka was wondering the same thing as Kakashi. Did they really come all this way to stand in front of a tall rock? Hana, Kirara, Kagome, and Naruto sighed at the same time.
Kakashi-sensei is impatient, don't you think, Naruto-kun? Kagome thought.
For once, he actually is. Naruto thought.
"Just watch, Iruka-san, Kakashi-san." Hana said as she turned towards the rock and stepped forward. The two men thought that she would just whack herself into the rock. Instead, she went into the rock! Iruka and Kakashi's eyes widened at this. Hana poked her head out of the rock.
"You coming or what?" Hana asked.
"H-Hai." Iruka said, nervously. Kakashi didn't say anything because he didn't have the exact words for this situation. Kagome went into the rock, followed by Naruto. Then Kakashi and Iruka followed after they found on the other side of the rock was a road. Iruka and Kakashi were still confused on what was going on. They followed Hana along with Kagome and Naruto behind her.
"Here we are, gentlemen." Hana said. Right in front of them stood a hut. It was big enough for a couple and one or two kids at least. There were flowers all around the hut and ivy vines that had wild roses was growing on the walls of the hut. Kakashi could easily tell that this woman loved flowers.
This woman should open up her own flower shop instead of living out here in the forest. Kakashi thought, gazing at the hut. Hana walked up to the door and knocked on it.
"Ayame, are you home? It's me, Hana Higurashi!" Hana said.
"I'm out back!" A female voice shouted in the back of the hut. Hana and the others went on the other side of the hut and followed a small path on the side of it. When they reached the end of it, they spotted a fenced garden with a woman who had red orange hair that was tied into long pigtails and green colored eyes. She was wearing a dark purple kimono and sandals as she was knelt to the ground while attending to some of the herbs. They spotted a flower attached to left side pigtail.
"Ayame-san!" Hana said as she ran towards Ayame, carefully going around the herbs.
"Hana-chan!" Ayame said as she quickly stood up and ran towards Hana. Then she embraced Hana when she got close to her.
"It's great to see you, Ayame-san." Hana said, patting her back.
"It's great to see you, too Hana-chan." Ayame said, patting her back. Then she noticed the small group of people near the garden gate.
"And who might these people be?"
"Oh, this is my daughter, Kagome. This is my son, Naruto." Hana said.
"Nice to meet you, Ayame-san." Kagome and Naruto said at the same time.
"I'm Iruka Umino." Iruka said.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake." Kakashi said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Ayame." Ayame said, placing her right hand on her chest.
"Likewise, Ayame." Kakashi said.
"I presume you're here to pick up some herbs, Hana-chan?" Ayame asked, looking at Hana.
"Hai, I'm nearly out of them." Hana said.
"I see. Well, which ones do you need?" Ayame asked.
For the past half hour, Ayame was helping Hana get the herbs she needed. Kagome and Naruto decided to help as well. Iruka knelt beside Hana as she explained to him what the herbs can do. Kagome, Naruto, and Kakashi noticed that the two would often blush when they were near each other. The two genin would quietly giggle at them.
When will Iruka-sensei ever confess to okaasan? Kagome thought.
Well, he better do it soon before someone else will try to take her away. Naruto thought.
Let's hope it will be soon, Naruto-kun. Kagome thought. Kagome and Naruto have always been aware that their mother had feelings towards Iruka as Iruka had feelings towards their mother. The two of them couldn't figure out why they haven't confessed to each other yet.
Soon after the herbs were collected, Ayame invited them for tea and cake. Naruto told them the story how they became genin and their first mission outside of their village. Ayame was amazed that Hana's children were able to do such things. She was more amazed that Kagome Higurashi was here in front of her. The last she had heard of her was when she went down the Bone-Eater's well to get to her era. But it seemed like she was reborn in the world of shinobi. Who knew?
"Kagome-chan." Ayame said.
"Hai?" Kagome asked.
"Can I talk you, privately, for a moment?" Ayame asked.
"Sure." Kagome said. Then she followed Ayame out of her hut and into her greenhouse. It was quite a beautiful place. There were all kinds of flowers everywhere. Some are probably used for her teas and others for decoration.
"It's been awhile, hasn't Kagome-chan?" Ayame asked when she stopped in the middle of the greenhouse. Kagome turned around and saw the look of nostalgia in Ayame's green eyes.
"Hai, it has, Ayame-sama." Kagome said, smiling softly.
"So this is where you've been living, huh?" Ayame asked.
"Yup, I'm a shinobi of Konoha!" Kagome asked with a closed eye smile.
"I see. But I'm wondering about that boy, Naruto Uzumaki." Ayame said as she bent down to check on one of her flowers.
"He's a jinchūriki." Kagome said as she stood next to Ayame.
"Jinchūriki?" Ayame asked, brow arched.
"Human vessels that have tailed beasts sealed inside of them." Kagome said.
"Somehow they have the same energies as a hanyō." Ayame said, rubbing her chin as she stood up.
"Hai, but they're also treated horribly in any shinobi village." Kagome said in a sad tone.
"Just like a hanyō, huh?" Ayame asked. Kagome nodded.
"By the way, do you know what happened to the others, Ayame-sama?" Kagome asked.
"Well, I know that Sesshomaru-sama is still around somewhere. I know that Koga-sama and his pack are living in Sesshomaru-sama's kingdom. Shippo-kun and Sōten as well. But I'm not so sure about Inuyasha though." Ayame said.
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, brow arched.
"A few years after you left, Inuyasha stayed in the village for a while and took on having a wife. But she couldn't bear him a child. Then he went to go out and find you." Ayame said.
"So he left a woman who couldn't bear him a child and decided to find me?" Kagome asked as she pointed at herself.
"Hai." Ayame said, nodded.
"What a selfish bastard! He just wants to use me as a broodmare! Not only that, he left his innocent wife to parish in sorrow!" Kagome said, angrily.
"I imagined so. Everyone told him that you wouldn't agree to it. But he refused to listen to logic." Ayame said, sighed as she crossed her arms.
"That was the last you saw him?" Kagome asked.
"Hai. No one hasn't seen him since." Ayame said.
"I see. Well, I'm just going to have to avoid him at all costs." Kagome said, crossing her arms.
"I'm afraid as Koga-sama as well, Kagome-chan." Ayame said, smiling nervously.
"Eh?" Kagome asked.
"Koga refused to mate with me. So if he sees you, he'll probably try to force you to become his mate as well as Inuyasha will." Ayame said.
"Hai, him as well." Kagome said with a sweatdrop on the side of her head. Not only does she have Inuyasha to deal with, but Koga as well. When did her life become so complicated when it came to the male species?
"If you want to see Sesshomaru-sama, there's a summoning circle not too far from my hut. It can teleport you to his kingdom." Ayame whispered to Kagome.
"Really?" Kagome whispered, excitedly.
"Hai. I think he'll be very glad to see you." Ayame said, smiling.
"It sounds like a great idea. But there's just one little problem, Ayame." Kagome said.
"What's that?" Ayame asked, brow arched.
"How can I convince them to come?" Kagome asked.
"Good point, Kagome-chan." Ayame said, placing her finger on her chin.
What Kagome and Ayame didn't know (or couldn't sense his presence) was that Kakashi was outside the greenhouse, listening in on their conversation.
Kagome and Ayame already know each other? Who the heck is Sesshomaru-sama, Koga-sama, and Inuyasha? How does Kagome know them? Kakashi thought as he listened. Well, he already knew who Shippo was. One of Kagome's summons. Ayame had mentioned that 'Inuyasha' and 'Koga' wanted to mate with Kagome. Somehow, he could sense that Kagome was not very happy about it. He was right in his assumption about Kagome. She was definitely hiding something.
"So Kagome-chan, where are we headed?" Iruka asked.
"Ayame-san told me that there is a certain flower she wants us to get. She has tried to get it, but no luck. She thinks that we might be able to get it." Kagome said. That's what she wants everyone to think. But the truth was that she was inviting everyone to come with her to see Sesshomaru-sama. From what she had learn from Shippo, it had been over five hundred years since he last saw her. It would be quite a surprise to see him.
They soon arrived in a clearing. It was mostly quiet except there were a few birds chirping all around them and flying towards another tree. The group was mostly curious to why there would be a flower in this clearing when there was clearly none. Then Naruto spotted something in the ground. He knelt down and moved a few pieces of rocks and old grass away from the object he found. It looked a circle of some sort that had weird writings on it.
"Hey, what is this?" Naruto asked as he stared down at the middle of the circle.
"It's a summoning circle." Kagome said as Hana, Kakashi, and Iruka stepped into it. Kagome knelt down next to Naruto. She recognized this writing on the circle. It was the portal to Sesshomaru-sama's realm.
"A summoning circle?" Iruka asked, brow arched.
"Hai, I've heard that they can take you to any place in the world." Kagome said.
"Interesting." Kakashi said. Suddenly the circle began to light up all around them.
"That can't be good." Iruka said. A light soon enveloped them into the circle as they felt like they were being pulled into it. They found themselves in a tunnel of navy blue light. Everyone, except Kagome, didn't know where they were going. Unexpectedly, they saw an outline of a crescent moon coming towards them. The next thing they knew, they landed in a circle similar to the one they were pulled into except this one had a navy blue crescent moon on it. Everyone slowly got up and noticed something different about their surroundings. There were no trees around them, only sculptures of inu sitting around the circle. Ahead of them, they could see a palace down below.
"Where the heck are we?" Naruto asked.
"I believe it's the Western Lands." Kagome said.
The road to a friend's house is never long.
-Danish Proverb
